Michael Knepp, M.S., Chad Stephens, B.S. & Dr. Bruce Friedman, PhD INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY One component for diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is excessive worry on most days for at least a 6 month period with little control associated with that worry (American Psychiatric Press 1994). Worry involves a predominance verbal thought whose function appears to be the cognitive avoidance of threat (Borkovec, Ray, & Stober 1998). One reason for studying worry is its links with cardiovascular disease: Men reporting higher levels of social worry had higher risks for nonfatal and fatal CV disease when compared with men who had lowered worry levels (Kubzansky et al., 1997). Evidence of slow blood pressure recovery due to emotional stress and worry during rumination periods (Glynn et al. 2002). This study explores which previous life events relate to increased trait worry. Primary Hypotheses: Negative physical health events would be unrelated with trait worry unless significant mental stress was involved. Individuals with GAD but not other phobias or anxieties would have increased trait worry scores. Tobacco and Alcohol would be used as self-medication and should negatively relate with trait worry while caffeine would have a positive relationship with trait worry. RESULTS CONCLUSIONS Previous Life Events No relationship between previous hospitalizations and worry F(1, 307)=.194, p=.66 No relationship between previous concussions and worry F(1, 309)=.005, p=.95 Increased trait worry score if an individual has visited a psychological professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor) F(1, 307)=7.963, p<.01 Increased trait worry score if an individual has been diagnosed with a physiological disorder (e.g. depression, GAD) F(1, 309)=12.07, p<.01 No interaction effect between previous physical health problems and visiting a psychological professional on trait worry scores F(1, 307)=1.885, p=.17 Current Health Concerns No relationship between present physical health problems and worry F(1, 309)=2.951,p=.09 No relationship between present learning disabilities and worry F(1,309)=1.122, p=.29 Increased trait worry scores were related to self-reported present mental health issues F(1,309)=8.753, p<.01 Daily Life Habits No relationship between tobacco use and worry F(1, 308)=.291, p=.59 No relationship between alcohol use and worry F(1, 309)=1.237, p=.27 Curvilinear relationship between caffeine use and worry; As caffeine use increases, trait worry score increases. At highest extreme of caffeine use, trait worry begins to decrease F(2, 308)=3.450, p<.05 Mind-Body Laboratory, Virginia Tech Psychology Department Daily Habits, Physical Wellbeing, Mental Health, and the Relationships with Trait Worry 311 undergraduate females were screened during the Worry and Cardiovascular System Project Recruitment Phase Participants completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the Mind-Body Laboratory’s Physical and Mental Health Questionnaire Penn State Worry Questionnaire: 16 item validated measure of an individual’s level of trait worry (Meyer et al. 1990) Mind-Body Laboratory’s Physical and Mental Health Questionnaire: Self-report of previous hospitalizations, concussions, psychologist visits and diagnosis of psychological disorder. Also included were reports of present physical health issues, learning disabilities, and anxiety disorder diagnoses. Daily habits included were daily caffeine, weekly alcohol and tobacco use. The strictly mental components of a negative life event were found to relate with increased trait worry while physical health issues, previous and current, were found to have no impact on worry levels. Neither alcohol nor tobacco use were found to have a self-medicating effect on worry. Individuals with higher worry scores did, however, drink larger amounts of caffeine per day, the exception being a decrease in worry scores for the highest caffeine consumers. Presented at the 19 th Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science RESULTS