Worry and use of coping strategies among older and younger adults

Eighty four adults over age 64 were compared with 110 college students on two measures of worry and on their methods of coping with worry. Results indicated that there were no differences in overall worry between the two groups, as measured by the Worry Scale for Older Adults—Revised, but on the ind...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of anxiety disorders 2003, Vol.17 (5), p.547-560
Main Authors: Hunt, Sandra, Wisocki, Patricia, Yanko, Julianne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adult
Affectivity. Emotion
Age differences
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging - psychology
Anxiety - epidemiology
Anxiety - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Coping
Cross-Sectional Studies
Defense Mechanisms
Elderly
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender
Humans
Internal-External Control
Male
Middle Aged
Personality Inventory
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
United States
Worry
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Summary:Eighty four adults over age 64 were compared with 110 college students on two measures of worry and on their methods of coping with worry. Results indicated that there were no differences in overall worry between the two groups, as measured by the Worry Scale for Older Adults—Revised, but on the individual subscales of health, family concerns, and world issues older adults expressed significantly more worries than younger adults. On the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, which measures a general, trait-like tendency to worry, younger adults reported significantly more worry than did the older adults. Younger adults also utilized a greater number of coping strategies in an effort to control worry. These results support the notion that older adults report relatively low levels of worrying when compared with the younger population. Explanations for these differences are discussed along with implications for the function of worry across the life span.
ISSN:0887-6185
1873-7897
DOI:10.1016/S0887-6185(02)00229-3