Intolerance of Uncertainty: Its relations to state-trait anxiety and social feedback learning

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) was found to be a transdiagnostic construct that connects multiple disorders, such as general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, worry, and state/trait anxiety. Factor analytic studies identified two significantly distinct components of IU, namely Prospective and Inhibitory IU. Although IU was generally associated with State/Trait Anxiety, it remains unclear how they are related on the subscale level. This study examined the relationship between Prospective/Inhibitory IU and State/Trait Anxiety. Secondly, previous studies found that high-IU individuals are slower in their performance compared to low-IU counterparts. This study investigated the influence of IU on performance in social feedback learning. It compares the reaction times of high- and low-IU individuals in estimating feedbacks from peers. A total of 175 Leiden University students participated in the experiment. Questionnaires, such as the IUS-12 and the STAI, were used for assessment. In the...Show moreIntolerance of Uncertainty (IU) was found to be a transdiagnostic construct that connects multiple disorders, such as general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, worry, and state/trait anxiety. Factor analytic studies identified two significantly distinct components of IU, namely Prospective and Inhibitory IU. Although IU was generally associated with State/Trait Anxiety, it remains unclear how they are related on the subscale level. This study examined the relationship between Prospective/Inhibitory IU and State/Trait Anxiety. Secondly, previous studies found that high-IU individuals are slower in their performance compared to low-IU counterparts. This study investigated the influence of IU on performance in social feedback learning. It compares the reaction times of high- and low-IU individuals in estimating feedbacks from peers. A total of 175 Leiden University students participated in the experiment. Questionnaires, such as the IUS-12 and the STAI, were used for assessment. In the SELF-Profile paradigm, participants had to estimate whether or not four chosen peers liked them. IU was significantly correlated with Trait Anxiety (p < .01) but not State Anxiety. However, no significant difference was found between high- and low-IU individuals in estimating feedbacks from peers. This study argued that the transdiagnostic relations of IU should be made specific, since differential relations between them exist. Secondly, the nature of the task in the experiment could influence participants’ threshold of ambiguity perception. That is, when the task does not elicit enough ambiguity, even participants with high IU might not be triggered to perceive uncertainty.Show less

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Intolerance of Uncertainty: Its relations to state-trait anxiety and social feedback learning