Date of Award:

12-2010

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Advisor/Chair:

Scott C. Bates

Abstract

The present study examined the factor structure of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Student Worry Questionnaire-30 (SWQ-30), the Anxious Thoughts Inventory (AnTI), the Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), and the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ). The present study also examined the measurement invariance between men (n = 186) and women (n = 316) in a university sample. Different models for each measure were identified through a review of the literature, and the models were examined through confirmatory factor analyses. The best-fitting models for each measure were retained for subsequent model modification to improve fit and for invariance testing across gender. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses and subsequent exploratory models provided general support for invariance in the configural models, but only the RRQ displayed measurement, scalar, and latent mean structure invariance. Results of the bootstrapped regression analyses indicated that summated scores derived from the exploratory models demonstrated different relationships between anxiety and depression in men and women. Frequency of worry, metaworry, and general anxiety symptoms significantly contributed to prediction of anxiety in men, whereas metaworry, social worry, lethargy, general anxiety symptoms, and health worries predicted anxiety in women. Social worry, metaworry, recrimination, and reflection (negatively) contributed to prediction of depression in men, whereas social worry, metaworry, lethargy, general anxiety symptoms, and social adequacy concerns predicted depression in women.

Comments

This work made publicly available electronically on December 23, 2010.


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