Minor stressors and generalized anxiety disorder among low-income patients attending primary care clinics

Phillip J. Brantley, Daniel J. Mehan, Steven C. Ames, Glenn N. Jones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

The total number of minor life events and subjective ratings of distress associated with these events were assessed for individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and for nonanxious controls. Participants consisted of 256 randomly selected, low-income patients from primary care medical clinics. Diagnoses were obtained using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the DSM- IV (DIS-IV). An analysis of variance revealed that GAD individuals reported significantly more minor life events than did nonanxious controls (F = 50.97, p < .001). An analysis of covariance indicated that persons with GAD perceived their minor stressors as significantly more stressful than did nonanxious controls, even after the total number of events was controlled (F = 42.07, p < .001). These findings are consistent with cognitive theories of GAD and current revisions to the definition of the disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Implications for theory and research on GAD are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)435-440
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Volume187
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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