title: Reliability and validity of the dimensional features of generalized anxiety disorder.
abstract: The reliability and validity of the dimensional features of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) were examined in a diverse sample of 508 outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders who underwent two independent administrations of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Lifetime version (ADIS-IV-L; Di Nardo, Brown, & Barlow, 1994). Inter-rater reliability was higher in the full sample than in patients with current GAD. Additionally, the presence of a mood disorder weakened inter-rater reliability. We also explored the unique contribution of excessiveness and uncontrollability of worry to various clinical outcomes and found that excessiveness predicted anxiety, depression, and stress self-report measures, and uncontrollability predicted clinical severity and number of diagnoses. Findings are discussed with regard to their implications for the classification of GAD (e.g., utility of dimension-based assessment to improve the classification of psychological disorders).
authors.affiliation: Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, United States. Electronic address: lrutter@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rutter
authors.affiliation: Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, United States.
authors.forename: Timothy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Diagnostic criteria; Dimensional classification; GAD; Reliability; Validity