Login | Register

An investigation of cognitive avoidance in worry

Title:

An investigation of cognitive avoidance in worry

Sexton, Kathryn A (2005) An investigation of cognitive avoidance in worry. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

[thumbnail of MR10188.pdf]
Preview
Text (application/pdf)
MR10188.pdf - Accepted Version
6MB

Abstract

These studies considered the nature of cognitive avoidance, a maintaining factor in worry and generalized anxiety disorder (Borkovec, Ray, & Stöber, 1998; Dugas, Gagnon, Ladouceur, & Freeston, 1998). First, the psychometric properties of the English translation of Gosselin et al.'s (2002) Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) were examined. The CAQ assesses five cognitive avoidance strategies: Thought Substitution, the Transformation of Images into Thoughts, Distraction, Avoidance of Threatening Stimuli, and Thought Suppression. The CAQ was administered to 456 students at Concordia University in Montreal. The CAQ total scale and subscales demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency and good test-retest reliability. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-subscale structure, though the model's goodness-of-fit was lower than expected. Finally, the CAQ showed convergent validity with measures of worry, thought suppression, information-avoidant coping in controllable situations, and information-seeking coping in uncontrollable situations. The CAQ also demonstrated divergent validity, showing negative correlations with information-seeking in controllable situations. Subsequently, Study 2 examined whether two worry-related processes, negative beliefs about worry and the fear of anxiety, may be contributing to cognitive avoidance in worry. A total of 259 students participated in this study. In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, negative beliefs about worry and the fear of somatic symptoms of anxiety, rather than the fear of losing control over anxiety, were found to predict cognitive avoidance. All process measures were significantly correlated with worry. Negative beliefs about intrusive thoughts, the fear of the anxiety symptoms, and cognitive avoidance showed stronger relationships with catastrophic worry than with generalized worry.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Psychology
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Sexton, Kathryn A
Pagination:xi, 172 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:Psychology
Date:2005
Thesis Supervisor(s):Dugas, Michel
Identification Number:LE 3 C66P79M 2005 S49
ID Code:8651
Deposited By: Concordia University Library
Deposited On:18 Aug 2011 18:31
Last Modified:13 Jul 2020 20:04
Related URLs:
All items in Spectrum are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved. The use of items is governed by Spectrum's terms of access.

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads per month over past year

Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
- Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
Back to top Back to top