Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

"Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic, difficult-to-treat disorder characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry. Although there are several leading theories of the etiological and maintaining factors of worry within GAD, one component that has been neglected across all theories is the self. Self-related constructs have been proven to provide a fuller understanding of psychopathological processes in other disorders, but for reasons unknown, have received little attention in GAD. The present study will provide the first investigation into the predictive utility of self-constructs, particularly possible selves and self-concept clarity, in the context of GAD and pathological worry. Possible selves are self-constructs that reflect our individual hopes, fantasies, responsibilities, and fears. Preliminary research suggests that perceived discrepancies with one's possible ought self and similarities with one's feared self predict feelings of anxiety. Self-concept clarity refers to the extent to which an individual's self-identity is clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable. Our own laboratory's research has shown that low self-concept clarity predicts GAD diagnosis. It is predicted that ought and feared discrepancies, as well as low self-concept clarity, will add predictive value over and above pre-existing constructs in predicting severity of pathological worry. Low self-concept clarity is also expected to be associated with greater perceived differences from the ought self and similarities to the feared self. Findings from this study will inform existing theories of GAD which will serve as the foundation for more efficacious cognitive-behavioural interventions."