The
aims of this study were to examine age-differences regarding various worry
components among younger and older adults and to characterize the relationships
between worry domains and anxiety. A total of 311 younger adults (18 - 30
years) and 100 older adults (65+ years) completed seven worry and anxiety
questionnaires, focusing on worry content, worry severity, and responses to
worry. A series of 2 × 2 ANOVAs was computed to examine
differences in worry and anxiety related to age and gender. Interaction effects
indicated that gender differences among younger adults were significantly more
pronounced than older adults with women reporting greater worry and anxiety
than men. Main effects of age indicated that younger adults reported greater
worry than older across all worry domains. Worry and anxiety measures were
found to be highly correlated across all domains. Findings indicate that worry
is fundamentally related to anxiety across age groups and that a variety of
aspects of worry should be considered to understand the breadth of worry’s
influence on anxiety. Additionally, age and gender have unique relationships
with worry and anxiety and interact to complicate individuals’ symptom
profiles. Thus, worry is a multifaceted construct that is crucial to
understanding anxiety in general and warrants multifaceted assessment and
intervention.
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