Publication year: 2011
Source: Applied and Preventive Psychology, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 22 March 2011
Bunmi O., Olatunji , Kate B., Wolitzky-Taylor , Craig N., Sawchuk , Bethany G., Ciesielski
Although worry is central to the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), it is also commonly observed in other anxiety disorders. In this meta-analytic review, we empirically evaluated the extent to which worry is specific to GAD relative to patients with other anxiety disorders, those with other psychiatric disorders, and nonpsychiatric controls. A total of 46 published studies (N = 8,366) were included in the analysis. The results yielded a large effect size indicating greater severity/frequency of worry, meta-worry, and domains of worry among anxiety disorder patients vs. nonpsychiatric controls (d = 1.64). In contrast to the many differences emerging…