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Does intolerance of uncertainty predict child generalised anxiety? A longitudinal study
Zoe J Ryan1, Holly Rayson2, Jayne Morriss3
1School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK.
Journal of Anxiety Disorders
|March 23, 2025
Summary
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) correlates with generalized anxiety and other symptoms in children. However, higher IU in preschoolers predicted a decrease in anxiety over time, suggesting it may not be causal.
Area of Science:
- Child psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Clinical psychology
Background:
- Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is linked to anxiety in adults and youth.
- Its role in childhood anxiety development, whether causal or maintenance, is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine the association between IU and generalized anxiety in preschoolers.
- Investigate if preschool IU predicts the trajectory of generalized anxiety into middle childhood.
- Assess the relationship between IU and the developmental course of internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study with parent-reported data at three time points (ages 3-4, 5-7, 8-10).
- Measures included child anxiety, IU, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing symptoms.
- 180 preschoolers participated at the first time point, with 148 completing all three.
Main Results:
- Higher IU was consistently associated with higher concurrent generalized anxiety, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms.
- Preschoolers with higher IU showed, on average, higher generalized anxiety throughout childhood.
- Unexpectedly, higher preschool IU predicted a decrease in generalized anxiety over time.
Conclusions:
- Intolerance of uncertainty is a stable correlate of generalized anxiety and related symptoms in children.
- Findings suggest IU may not play a direct causal role in the onset of generalized anxiety in early childhood.
- Further research is needed to clarify the complex relationship between IU and childhood anxiety trajectories.
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