Florida State University, United States.
Florida State University, United States.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2019 Sep;64:64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.02.010. Epub 2019 Mar 1.
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), or fear of the unknown, is as an important transdiagnostic risk factor across anxiety-related conditions, namely generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and social anxiety disorder (SAD). IU is typically indexed using self-report measures. Given the importance of multi-method assessments and the shortcomings associated with existing behavioral indices of IU, additional methods of assessment are needed. Emerging literature supports the use of interpretation bias (IB) paradigms to index constructs such as IU. However, only one study to date has examined the association between an IU-focused IB paradigm (IU-IB) and self-report IU and no research has investigated whether an IU-IB paradigm would be related to increased anxiety-related symptoms.
The current investigation examined the utility of an IU-IB paradigm across two separate samples wherein participants completed an interpretation bias task and self-report measures. Sample 1 included 86 participants (74.4% female; Mage = 19.14) and sample 2 included 138 participants (79.7% female; Mage = 18.88).
Findings from Study 1 indicated a significant association between an exaggerated IU-IB and symptoms of GAD and OCD, and this relationship held after covarying for negative affect. Study 2 results indicated a significant relationship between an exaggerated IU-IB and symptoms of GAD, OCD, and SAD, after covarying for negative affect.
The current study had a variety of limitations, including the use of cross-sectional data and an undergraduate sample.
These findings provide an important replication and extension of previous work and highlight the transdiagnostic utility of this IU-IB task.
不确定性容忍度（IU），即对未知的恐惧，是焦虑相关疾病（如广泛性焦虑障碍（GAD）、强迫症（OCD）和社交焦虑障碍（SAD））的一个重要共病风险因素。IU 通常通过自我报告量表进行评估。鉴于多方法评估的重要性，以及现有的 IU 行为指标的缺陷，需要额外的评估方法。新兴文献支持使用解释偏差（IB）范式来评估 IU 等结构。然而，迄今为止，只有一项研究探讨了 IU 为重点的 IB 范式（IU-IB）与自我报告 IU 之间的关联，并且没有研究调查 IU-IB 范式是否与增加的焦虑相关症状有关。
本研究在两个独立的样本中考察了 IU-IB 范式的有效性，其中参与者完成了解释偏差任务和自我报告量表。样本 1 包括 86 名参与者（74.4%为女性；Mage=19.14），样本 2 包括 138 名参与者（79.7%为女性；Mage=18.88）。
研究 1 的结果表明，夸大的 IU-IB 与 GAD 和 OCD 的症状之间存在显著关联，并且在控制负性情绪后，这种关联仍然存在。研究 2 的结果表明，在控制负性情绪后，夸大的 IU-IB 与 GAD、OCD 和 SAD 的症状之间存在显著关联。
本研究存在多种局限性，包括使用横断面数据和本科生样本。
这些发现为之前的工作提供了重要的复制和扩展，并强调了这种 IU-IB 任务的跨诊断效用。
