Generalized anxiety symptoms in phobic disorders and anxiety states: A test of the worry hypothesis

Abstract

To investigate differences between anxiety disorder subtypes on the basis of generalized anxiety symptoms, a discriminant analysis was performed with 13 Hamilton Anxiety Scale cluster ratings for phobic disorders and anxiety states ( N = 407). As multivariate techniques significantly discriminated the groups, the analysis was followed by univariate tests. These tests showed that Generalized Anxiety Disorder was characterized by anxious mood, while Agoraphobia and Panic Disorder were characterized by fear symptoms, and Social Phobia was characterized by autonomic arousal. The results concerning anxious mood are consistent with the findings of a preliminary study which showed that worry is the cardinal feature of generalized anxiety. The influence of medication effects on the results as well as independence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder as a diagnostic category are discussed.