Group CBT for GAD: The Role of Change in Intolerance of Uncertainty in Treatment Outcomes

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a critical construct underlying generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), resulting in treatments for GAD being tailored to distinctively target IU in the hopes of increasing treatment effectiveness. Furthermore, despite GAD's strong link to depression, limited research has examined the role of IU on depressive symptoms in GAD. The current study examined the extent to which IU changes over the course of 12 sessions of group cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for GAD where the direct focus on IU is limited to one session; whether amount of change in IU predicts changes over the treatment period in worry, anxiety, stress, and depression; whether change in IU predicts change in worry domains above and beyond change in worry severity and vice versa; and whether IU mediates symptom improvement. Findings revealed that IU and worry severity significantly decreased over the course of treatment; decrease in IU was significantly associated with decrease in s...