Abstract

Objective: The present study assessed the functional associations between the intolerance of uncertainty (IU), worry, and arousal as components of anxiety in preadolescents, as well as the longitudinal effects of friendship security and intimacy on anxiety. It was expected that IU and worry would be most strongly related to each other at both times and that friendship security, rather than intimacy, would have a protective effect on anxiety by inhibiting IU. Method: Preadolescents (N = 216) in grades 5 and 6 (Mage = 11.35) completed self-report questionnaires at two times across a two-month period. Participants rated newly developed items designed to assess anxiety (IU, Worry and Arousal) in social and test situations, and rated items of depressed affect, friendship security, and intimacy. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that this new tool proved to be a valid and reliable measure of the anxiety constructs. Further, analyses revealed that (1) worry and arousal demonstrated the strongest association among the 3 anxiety components, (2) IU was a more powerful antecedent to worry than it was to arousal at both times, (3) IU was indirectly related to depressed affect, and (4) friendship security was negatively related to IU over time. Conclusions: Overall, these findings provide important insights into the organizational and hierarchical structure of anxiety in preadolescence and lend further empirical support to the importance of friendships on reducing internalizing symptoms. These results have important implications for enhancing the treatment of anxiety and depressed affect, by including a focus on the intolerance of uncertainty.