Predicting symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder based on meta-worry, experiential avoidance, and brain-behavioral systems BIS/BAS

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that cause problems to millions of people every year, and the present research aims to predict the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder based on over-anxiety, experiential avoidance, and BIS/BAS brain-behavioral systems among those who refer to service clinics. The psychological survey of Urmia city was carried out in 2021.

The method of conducting this descriptive (non-experimental) research and the research design was a correlation. The statistical population of this research was all the visitors to Urmia's outpatient clinics from June to September 2021. Using the available sampling method, 218 people were selected. To collect data, the Short Scale of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Meta-Worry, The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, and the Behavioral Activation/Inhibition Questionnaire were used. In this research, in order to test relations, parametric tests of Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Regression were utilized, and to analyze the data SPSS software was used.

The results of the present study revealed that there was a significant relation at the 0.01 level between meta-worry and generalized anxiety disorder and experiential avoidance and behavioral inhibition systems (BIS) and symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. However, no relation was observed between the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Also, the regression results showed that meta-anxiety predicts 28%, experiential avoidance 7%, and behavioral inhibition 4% of generalized anxiety changes.

In explaining and treating generalized anxiety disorder, factors such as meta-worry, experiential avoidance, and behavioral inhibition system should be considered.