Worry versus anxiety. Is there really a difference?
Worry and anxiety scales overlap, yet they tap different skills and moods, so pick the right one for your client.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave college students two short surveys. One asked about worry. The other asked about anxiety.
They wanted to see if the scores moved together or told different stories.
What they found
Worry and anxiety scores rose together, but they were not twins.
Anxiety tracked with bad mood. Worry tracked with how people solve problems.
When the anxiety scale kept only body cues, the link to worry got weaker.
How this fits with other research
Lau et al. (2014) also used surveys and linked autism traits to parent anxiety. Both papers show anxiety is more than one feeling.
Soderstrom et al. (2002) found adults with Asperger’s score high on harm avoidance. That trait lines up with the anxiety scale in the target paper, not the worry scale.
Gerber et al. (2011) showed people with Williams syndrome fear physical threat more than social threat. Their anxiety pattern matches the body-focused anxiety sub-scale in the target paper.
Why it matters
If you give a client a single anxiety scale, you may miss worry habits that live outside mood. Use one tool for worry and one for anxiety. Match your treatment: teach problem-solving for worry, mood skills for anxiety.
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Add a two-minute worry scale next to your anxiety scale and compare the scores.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The similarities and distinctions between the constructs of worry and anxiety were examined in a sample of 189 university students. Three worry scales and four measures of anxiety were compared in relation to measures of negative affect, personal control, and problem-solving style. Although measures of worry and anxiety were highly correlated, negative affect (e.g. depression, confusion) tended to be more closely related to anxiety than to worry, whereas problem-solving style tended to be more closely related to worry than to anxiety. Personal control did not show a differential relationship to anxiety or worry. When the definition of anxiety was restricted to somatic anxiety, however, negative affect, perceived problem-solving abilities, and personal control were more strongly related to worry than to anxiety. Implications of these results are discussed in light of current definitions and measurement of these constructs.
Behavior modification, 1998 · doi:10.1177/01454455980221003