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Updated: Oct 31, 2025
Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
Published on: September 16, 2015
Assessment of intolerance of uncertainty: Validation of a modified anagram task
Emily M O'Bryan1, Jessica R Beadel2, Alison C McLeish3
1Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Anxiety Disorders Center/Center for CBT, The Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA.
Background And Objectives:
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is an individual difference factor that reflects difficulty tolerating emotional distress in the context of uncertainty and is a robust transdiagnostic risk factor for emotional disorders. A limitation of prior research on IU is the heavy reliance on self-report measures to assess this construct. The aim of the present study was to examine the validity of a brief, computerized anagram task modified to assess IU (the PACT Anagram Task; PAT).
Methods:
Participants were 221 unselected undergraduate students (71% female; Mage = 19; 89% Caucasian) who completed the PAT and a series of self-report measures of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity, and measures of anxiety and depression symptoms online for course credit.
Results:
Greater PAT-Distress was positively correlated measures of convergent validity and demonstrated incremental validity in relation to self-reported IU above and beyond attentional control. None of the PAT indicators were associated with compassion or empathic concern, evidencing discriminant validity. PAT-Distress and PAT-Answers were each associated with greater worry above and beyond self-reported IU.
Limitations:
Study limitations include the cross-sectional design and lack of diversity in terms of sample demographics. Furthermore, we did not examine convergence between this task and other behavioral measures of IU.
Conclusion:
Subjective distress following completion of the PAT may serve as one indicator of IU. Further research is needed in order to replicate these results and validate the use of the PAT in clinical samples.
