Summary
Objectives
This study evaluates the validity and reliability of a new selfreport instrument that assess GAD spectrum symptoms: the WORRY-SR.
Methods
Participants included 120 patients with mood and anxiety disorders recruited at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Pisa and two comparison groups included 47 participants recruited at the Department of Occupational Medicine and 45 outpatients with gastrointestinal disorders. Participants completed the WORRY-SR, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), the Panic-Agoraphobia Spectrum (PAS-SR) and the WHO Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL-BREF).
Results
Internal consistency of the total WORRY-SR score (KR = 0.96) and for the domains (Childhood, Worry, Beliefs about Worry, Somatic and Emotional Symptoms, Cognitive Tendencies, and Behavioral and Interpersonal Tendencies) was excellent. Furthermore, the WORRY-SR showed good concurrent validity with the PSWQ (ρ = 0.71). Finally, the WORRY-SR discriminates participants with psychiatric disorders from controls and patients with severe functional impairment from those with mild/moderate functional impairment.
Conclusions
Our findings provide support for reliability and validity of the WORRY-SR questionnaire.
Key words
Worry • GAD • Dimensional approach • Self-report instrument • Functional impairment