Centre for Policy on Ageing



Worry content reported by older adults with and without generalized anxiety disorder
Author(s)	G J Diefenbach, M A Stanley, J G Beck
Journal title	Aging & Mental Health, vol 5, no 3, August 2001
Pages	pp 269-274
Keywords	Anxiety ; Mental health [elderly] ; Life span ; United States of America.
Annotation	Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is defined in part by excessive and uncontrollable worry, and remains one of the most frequently diagnosed anxiety disorders in older people. In this study, worry content was compared for 44 older people diagnosed with GAD and 44 normal control (NC) volunteers, matched for age, gender and ethnicity. Results indicated that older people with GAD reported a wider range of worry topics than did NC participants. However, there was no difference in worry content patterns between the two groups. These results suggest that pathological worry in later life is not uniquely defined by content. Worry content reported by older people was also compared with previously published younger adult worry content data: age differences were consistent with common age-related developmental changes. Directions are proposed for research on worry across the lifespan. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-010927214 A
Classmark	ENP: D: BG6: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.