Capturing worry in daily life: are trait questionnaires sufficient?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Worry is central to anxiety disorders and adverse health outcomes.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the daily frequency, persistence, and predictability of worry.
• Trait questionnaires are widely used but their ability to predict daily worry requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the frequency and duration of worry in daily life among students.
• To assess the predictability of daily worry by established trait worry questionnaires.
• To examine the relationship between trait anxiety and daily worry patterns.

Main Methods:

• 432 students completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T).
• Participants maintained a daily log of worry frequency and duration over six consecutive days and nights.
• Statistical analyses were employed to examine the predictive validity of the questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Worry is a frequent daily experience, significantly predicted by both PSWQ and WDQ, independent of trait anxiety.
• The PSWQ demonstrated superior prediction of worry duration compared to the WDQ.
• The PSWQ uniquely predicted night-time worry and other indicators of perseverative, potentially pathogenic worry.

Conclusions:

• Trait worry questionnaires like PSWQ and WDQ show some predictive validity for daily worry.
• Existing questionnaires do not fully explain the variance in daily worry experiences.
• Future research should consider momentary assessment methods to capture dynamic worry processes.