title: Behavioral expressions of intolerance of uncertainty in worry. Experimental findings.
abstract: Intolerance of uncertainty has been related to increased worry in recent conceptual models of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The present study examines the relationship between a measure of intolerance of uncertainty, the Intolerance of Uncertainty scale (IU), and behaviors associated with GAD, such as slowness of execution and amount of evidence required before decision making. A total of 49 individuals participated in the study. Three experimental tasks varying in level of ambiguity and difficulty were used. The analyses show a positive correlation between scores on the IU and number of cues required before responding in a moderately ambiguous inference task. However, scores on the IU were not significantly related to responses in an unambiguous task (regardless of the level of difficulty) or in a highly ambiguous task. The results suggest that high worriers have a lower threshold of tolerance of uncertainty for intermediate levels of ambiguity. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models of GAD.
authors.affiliation: Laval University, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ladouceur
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Talbot
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Dugas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D001288:Attention; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011340:Problem Solving