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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
Level of emotional awareness as a differentiating variable between individuals with and without generalized anxiety
Paige Novick-Kline1, Cynthia L Turk, Douglas S Mennin
1Department of Psychology, La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19141, USA.
Abstract:
Using Mennin, Heimberg, Turk, and Fresco's [Emotion regulation deficits as a key feature of generalized anxiety disorder: Testing a theoretical model, submitted for publication] conceptualization of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as a syndrome involving emotion dysregulation and an overuse of cognitive control strategies, this study sought to differentiate individuals with GAD from controls by offering differences in emotional awareness as one of the central distinctions between these groups. This study employs the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) [Lane et al., 1990Lane, R. D., Quinlan, D. M., Schwartz, G. E., Walker, P. A., & Zeitlin, S. B. (1990). The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale: a cognitive-developmental measure of emotion. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 124-134] a rater-coded measure, to assess level of emotional awareness, a methodological improvement over previous tests of the model, which relied upon self-report. Individuals with GAD scored significantly higher than controls on emotional awareness. These findings are discussed in light of the theoretical implications for GAD.
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