The effect of self-referential processing on anxiety in response to naturalistic and laboratory stressors

Although stressful life events increase risk for symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), we know little about mechanisms that increase GAD symptoms during times of stress. Despite evidence that self-referential processing contributes to other forms of psychopathology, namely depression, it is unknown whether self-referential processing also contributes to symptoms of GAD. Thus, we examined the association of self-referential processing with GAD symptoms in response to a naturalistic stressor (Study 1; n=135) and with anxiety-tension in response to a laboratory stressor (Study 2; n=56). In Study 1, participants completed the self-referential encoding task (SRET) in their initial weeks of university, and we assessed GAD symptoms four times across the semester. In Study 2, participants completed the SRET immediately before a laboratory stressor, and we assessed moment-to-moment changes in anxiety-tension. Greater negatively biased self-referential processing was associated with higher GAD symptoms at the start of university and greater reactivity to the laboratory stressor. In contrast, greater positively biased self-referential processing served as a protective factor associated with greater decline in symptoms over time. This study is the first to demonstrate that there are valence-specific effects of self-referential processing on anxiety, suggesting that self-referential processing may be relevant to GAD.