THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE-AFFECTIVE SYSTEM AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS IN PREDICTION OF SYMPTOMS SEVERITY FOR GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER

Cognitive-affective factors and demographical characteristics have an important role in prediction of symptoms severity and quality of life in generalized anxiety disorder. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of cognitive-affective system and demographic characteristics in the severity of symptoms for generalized anxiety disorder. In a cross-sectional descriptive study، 128 outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder who attended three psychiatric outpatient''s clinics of Tehran were selected by convenience sampling. Data were collected by The structured clinical interview، The Brief Core Schema Scales، The Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale، the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale، Penn State Worry Questionnaire، Anxiety Sensitivity Index-revised، and demographical questionnaire and then analyzed by multiple regression analysis in stepwise method with PASW software. Feeling worried، anxiety sensitivity and socio-economic status have important predictive role in severity of symptoms for generalized anxiety disorder (F(3،124) =60. 85، p<0. 001). These three variables were predicted 0. 58 variation in symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (R2=0. 58). Age، gender، literacy، intolerance of uncertainty، emotional schema and cognitive-behavioral avoidance didn’t have significant predictive role in prediction of severity of symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder (P>0. 05). Regarding the important role of feeling worried، anxiety sensitivity، and socio-economic status in prediction of symptoms severity for generalized anxiety disorder، it is necessity to pay attention to tailored interventions in these symptoms for basic quality of life promotion in these patients.