Confidence Appraisals Protect against Anxiety in Response to a Transient Stressor

Alyson K. Zalta, Dianne L. Chambless

Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2012.36062                

Abstract

Research suggests that cognitive appraisals regarding personal control and existential beliefs are important factors in the development of anxiety. These include mastery, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, self-esteem, attributional style, and optimism. It remains unclear, however, whether these appraisals add to the prediction of anxiety beyond what can be determined by individuals’ generalized tendency to respond with anxiety in stressful situations. Moreover, researchers have begun to question whether measures of these appraisals represent truly distinct constructs or whether they are merely redundant aspects of a broad higher order construct. We sought to determine the empirical overlap of these six cognitive appraisals known to correlate with anxiety and whether identified factor(s) prospectively predicted anxiety in response to an ecologically valid stressor. The appraisals loaded onto one factor reflecting confidence in one’s coping ability. This confidence factor significantly predicted future state anxiety after controlling for baseline levels of trait anxiety and other possible confounds. Results suggest that these cognitive appraisals may be causally linked to anxiety and used to identify those at risk.

Keywords

Anxiety; Prospective; Longitudinal; Risk Factor; Cognitive Appraisal

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Ahrens , A. H., & Haaga, D. A. F. (1993). The specificity of attributional style and expectations to positive and negative affectivity, depression, and anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 17, 83-98. doi:10.1007/BF01172742
[2]	Archer, R. P. (1979). Relationships between locus of control and anxiety. Journal of Personality Assessment, 43, 617-626. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4306_10
[3]	Bárez, M., Blasco, T., Fernández-Castro, J., & Viladrich, C. (2009). Perceived control and psychological distress in women with breast cancer: A longitudinal study. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 187-196. doi:10.1007/s10865-008-9180-5
[4]	Ben-Zur, H., & Zeidner, M. (1988). Sex differences in anxiety, curiosity, and anger: A cross-cultural study. Sex Roles, 19, 335-347. doi:10.1007/BF00289841
[5]	Bowen, R., South, M., Fischer, D., & Looman, T. (1994). Depression, mastery and number of group sessions attended predict outcome of patients with panic and agoraphobia in a behavioural/medication program. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 39, 283-288.
[6]	Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (2010). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: Science and practice. New York: Guilford Press.
[7]	Dew, M. A., Becker, J. T., Sanchez, J., Caldararo, R., Lopez, O. L., Wess, J. et al. (1997). Prevalence and predictors of depressive, anxiety and substance use disorders in HIV-infected and uninfected men: A longitudinal evaluation. Psychological Medicine, 27, 395-409. doi:10.1017/S0033291796004552
[8]	Geweke, J. F., & Singleton, K. I. (1980). Interpreting the likelihood of ratio statistic in factor models when sample size is small. Journal of American Statistical Association, 75, 133-137. doi:10.2307/2287400
[9]	Gray-Little, B., Williams, V. S. L., & Hancock, T. D. (1997). An item response theory analysis of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 443-451. doi:10.1177/0146167297235001
[10]	Gurung, R. A. R., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Collins, N. J., Rini, C., & Hobel, C. J. (2005). Psychosocial predictors of prenatal anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 497-519. doi:10.1521/jscp.2005.24.4.497
[11]	Judge, T. A., Erez, A., Bono, J. E., & Thoresen, C. J. (2002). Are measures of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and generalized self-efficacy indicators of a common core construct? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 693-710. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.3.693
[12]	Judge, T. A., Locke, E. A., & Durham, C. C. (1997). The dispositional causes of job satisfaction: A core evaluations approach. Research in Organizational Behavior, 19, 151-188.
[13]	Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
[14]	Lee, A., & Hankin, B. L. (2009). Insecure attachment, dysfunctional attitudes, and low self-esteem predicting prospective symptoms of depression and anxiety during adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 38, 219-231. doi:10.1080/15374410802698396
[15]	Luszczynska, A., Scholz, U., & Schwarzer, R. (2005). The general self-efficacy scale: Multicultural validation studies. The Journal of Psychology, 139, 439-457. doi:10.3200/JRLP.139.5.439-457
[16]	Monroe, S. M. (1983). Major and minor life events as predictors of psychological distress: Further issues and findings. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 6, 189-205. doi:10.1007/BF00845380
[17]	Pearlin, L. I., Menaghan, E. G., Lieberman, M. A., & Mullen, J. T. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 337-356. doi:10.2307/2136676
[18]	Pearlin, L. I., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19, 2-21. doi:10.2307/2136319
[19]	Peterson, C., Semmel, A., von Baeyer, C., Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1982). The attributional style questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6, 287-299. doi:10.1007/BF01173577
[20]	Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
[21]	Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80.
[22]	Sanderson, W. C., Rapee, R. M., & Barlow, D. H. (1989). The influence of an illusion of control on panic attacks induced via inhalation of 5.5% carbon dioxide-enriched air. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, 157-162. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810020059010
[23]	Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1992). Effects of optimism on psychological and physical well-being: Theoretical overview and empirical update. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 201-228. doi:10.1007/BF01173489
[24]	Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A reevaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1063-1078. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1063
[25]	Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (2001). Optimism, pessimism, and psychological well-being. In E. C. Chang (Ed.), Optimism and pessimism: Implications for theory, research, and practice (pp. 189-215). Washington, DC: American Psychological Assocaition. doi:10.1037/10385-009
[26]	Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized self-efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds.), Measures in health psychology: A user’s portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (pp. 35-37). Windsor, UK: NFER-NELSON.
[27]	Seligman, M. E., Schulman, P., & Tryon, A. M. (2007). Group prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1111-1126. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.09.010
[28]	Souza, T. M., Samaraweera, N., & Frye, L. A. (2009). Anxiety and PTSD in the 2009-2010 college population. Anxiety Disorders: A Tri-Annual Report, 6, 1-6. http://www.anxsig.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/2009%20Summer%20ANXSIG.pdf
[29]	Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., Lushene, R. E., Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
[30]	Taylor, S. E., Burklund, L. J., Eisenberger, N. I., Lehman, B. J., Hilmert, C. J., & Lieberman, M. D. (2008). Neural bases of moderation of cortisol stress responses by psychosocial resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 197-211. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.197
[31]	van Jaarsveld, C. H., Ranchor, A. V., Sanderman, R., Ormel, J., & Kempen, G. I. (2005). The role of premorbid psychological attributes in short- and long-term adjustment after cardiac disease. A prospective study in the elderly in The Netherlands. Social Science & Medicine, 60, 1035-1045. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.06.037
[32]	Windsor, T. D., Anstey, K. J., Butterworth, P., Luszcz, M. A., & Andrews, G. R. (2007). The role of perceived control in explaining depressive symptoms associated with driving cessation in a longitudinal study. The Gerontologist, 47, 215-223. doi:10.1093/geront/47.2.215