Validation of the intolerance of uncertainty scale as a screening tool for perinatal anxiety

The education of experience: Mixed methods evidence demonstrates the benefit of multiparity

PROBLEM

Existing quantitative data is conflicting concerning whether multiparous birthing parents (individuals with an older child(ren)) experience an easier postpartum transition compared to primiparous birthing parents (first time parents).

AIM

This convergent mixed methods study leverages the depth of qualitative inquiry to seek a clearer understanding of the way in which acquired parenting experience contributes to observed quantitative differences in outcomes between parity groups. This work can serve as a first step in planning for supportive interventions that effectively address the postpartum needs of both parity groups.

METHODS

Thirty birthing parents (43.3% multiparous; 46.7% racial minorities) completed measures of postpartum functioning, perceived stress, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms as well as an interview inquiring about factors impacting postpartum functioning. Scores on postpartum functioning and emotional wellbeing were compared between parity groups, and these findings were merged with the qualitative data on firsthand parenting experience to clarify how acquired experience impacts functioning and emotional wellbeing during the postpartum transition.

FINDINGS

Primiparous parents reported significantly: worse postpartum functioning, higher perceived stress, higher levels of depression symptoms, and higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Participants' qualitative report of how acquired parenting experience impacts wellbeing suggests that experience grants parents skills, knowledge, and the opportunity to disconfirm maladaptive cognitions about parenting which allows for increased comfort and confidence in the parental role.

CONCLUSIONS

The practical and psychological resources gained from acquiring parenting experience during one's first postpartum period appear to be brought forward into subsequent pregnancies and protect against threats to functioning and emotional wellbeing.

The Worry Behaviors Inventory-Perinatal Revised: Adaptation and Initial Validation for Use in Perinatal Samples

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a leading mental health concern during pregnancy and the postpartum (perinatal) period. People with GAD engage in problematic behaviors to manage their distress. However, the extent of GAD behaviors during the perinatal period may not be adequately captured by the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI), the most comprehensive measure of GAD behaviors to date. We evaluated the structure of the initial WBI item-pool and then evaluated the internal consistency, construct validity, and predictive utility of the Perinatal Revised WBI (WBI-PR) in a sample of 214 perinatal women with and without GAD. A two-factor, 10-item scale was supported, and some of the retained items differed from the original WBI. Internal consistency of the WBI-PR was acceptable, and evidence of construct validity was demonstrated. The WBI-PR predicted GAD diagnostic status both alone and beyond existing generalized anxiety and depression symptoms. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The predictive roles of parental stress and intolerance of uncertainty on psychological well-being of parents with a newborn in neonatal intensive care unit: a hierarchical linear regression analysis

BACKGROUND

Hospitalization of newborns in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) exposes parents to considerable stress. This study aimed to determine the predictive role of parental stress and intolerance of uncertainty on the psychological well-being of parents with a newborn in NICU using hierarchical linear regression analysis.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 130 parents of newborns hospitalized in the NICU. Data were collected using Parental Stress Scale, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, and Psychological Wellbeing Scale. The data were analyzed in SPSS v.26 using hierarchical linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

The mean scores of the parents' psychological well-being, parental stress, and intolerance of uncertainty were 79.08 (SD = 11.70), 63.06 (SD = 26.71), and 75.38 (SD = 19.40), respectively. The result of the hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that, in step 1, academic education had a significant proportion of the variance of parents' psychological well-being (β = 0.26, P = 0.005). In step 2, it was shown that academic education (β=-0.25, P = 0.006) and parental stress (β=-0.25, P = 0.006) had a significant proportion of the variance of parents' psychological well-being. According to step 2, education levels, parental stress, and intolerance of uncertainty explained 22% of the changes in parents' psychological well-being.

CONCLUSION

There was a significant association between the parents' psychological well-being and education levels, intolerance of uncertainty, and parental stress. Academic education and parental stress were the predictors of parents' psychological well-being. Based on these findings, early detection of parents' education and stress are important for their psychological well-being.

Psychometric properties of the PSWQ in a sample of pregnant and postpartum women

BACKGROUND

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)-characterised by excessive and uncontrollable worry-is the most frequently diagnosed anxiety disorder during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Identification of GAD often relies on assessment of its cardinal feature, pathological worry. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is the most robust measure of pathological worry to date but has not been extensively evaluated for use during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study evaluated the internal consistency, construct validity, and diagnostic accuracy of the PSWQ in a sample of pregnant and postpartum women with and without a principal GAD diagnosis.

METHODS

One hundred forty-two pregnant and 209 postpartum women participated in this study. Sixty-nine pregnant and 129 postpartum participants met criteria for a principal diagnosis of GAD.

RESULTS

The PSWQ demonstrated good internal consistency and converged with measures assessing similar constructs. Pregnant participants with principal GAD scored significantly higher on the PSWQ than those with no psychopathology and postpartum participants with principal GAD scored significantly higher than those with principal mood disorders, other anxiety and related disorders, and no psychopathology. A cut-off score of 55 and 61 or greater was determined for detecting probable GAD during pregnancy and the postpartum period, respectively. Screening accuracy of the PSWQ was also demonstrated.

CONCLUSIONS

This study underscores the robustness of the PSWQ as a measure of pathological worry and probable GAD and supports its use in the detection and monitoring of clinically significant worry symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum period.

The Application of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Model to Gambling Urge and Involvement

BACKGROUND

Drawing on the intolerance of uncertainty model, this study aimed to examine whether intolerance of uncertainty and emotion regulation difficulties (in terms of impulse control difficulties and limited access to emotion regulation strategies) contributed to individual differences in gambling urge and involvement.

METHODS

Convenience sampling was used to recruit Chinese adult participants who had engaged in buying lottery tickets and other gambling activities in the past year. They were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire survey, and a total of 580 valid cases (M_age = 34.07, SD = 13.36; 50.4% female) were collected for data analysis.

RESULTS

Path analysis showed that the total effect of intolerance of uncertainty on gambling urge and involvement was significant and positive. However, only impulse control difficulties and not limited access to emotion regulation strategies fully mediated the effect of intolerance of uncertainty.

CONCLUSIONS

As the first study to apply the intolerance of uncertainty model to real-life gambling, it found that individuals' intolerance of uncertainty and impulse control difficulties contributed to more gambling urge and involvement. Improving emotion regulation skill (e.g., impulse control training) may, therefore, be considered in programs for promoting responsible gambling among Chinese gamblers.

Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty: How intolerance of uncertainty and trait anxiety impact fear acquisition, extinction and the return of fear

It is hypothesized that the ability to discriminate between threat and safety is impaired in individuals with high dispositional negativity, resulting in maladaptive behavior. A large body of research investigated differential learning during fear conditioning and extinction protocols depending on individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and trait anxiety (TA), two closely-related dimensions of dispositional negativity, with heterogenous results. These might be due to varying degrees of induced threat/safety uncertainty. Here, we compared two groups with high vs. low IU/TA during periods of low (instructed fear acquisition) and high levels of uncertainty (delayed non-instructed extinction training and reinstatement). Dependent variables comprised subjective (US expectancy, valence, arousal), psychophysiological (skin conductance response, SCR, and startle blink), and neural (fMRI BOLD) measures of threat responding. During fear acquisition, we found strong threat/safety discrimination for both groups. During early extinction (high uncertainty), the low IU/TA group showed an increased physiological response to the safety signal, resulting in a lack of CS discrimination. In contrast, the high IU/TA group showed strong initial threat/safety discrimination in physiology, lacking discriminative learning on startle, and reduced neural activation in regions linked to threat/safety processing throughout extinction training indicating sustained but non-adaptive and rigid responding. Similar neural patterns were found after the reinstatement test. Taken together, we provide evidence that high dispositional negativity, as indicated here by IU and TA, is associated with greater responding to threat cues during the beginning of delayed extinction, and, thus, demonstrates altered learning patterns under changing environments.

Evaluation of an Augmented Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy for Perinatal Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The perinatal period is considered a window of vulnerability given the increased risk of psychiatric difficulties during this time, such as mood and anxiety disorders (ADs). Pre-pandemic rates of ADs in perinatal women were one in five but have since increased with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID). In addition, recent research suggests that the focus of worry has shifted during the pandemic, with perinatal women reporting significantly more COVID-specific worries. The objective of this study was to augment our current evidence-based Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy (CBGT) for perinatal anxiety protocol by targeting intolerance of uncertainty and tailoring existing strategies to address COVID-related worry and impact. Pregnant (n = 19) and postpartum (n = 49) women were recruited from regular clinic patient flow from a university-affiliated teaching hospital between September 2020 and March 2021. Improvements in generalized anxiety symptoms, worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and mood were observed at post-treatment, maintained at 3-months, and the intervention received high ratings of treatment satisfaction. This is the first study to examine an augmented CBGT for perinatal women with GAD during the pandemic and supports the inclusion of strategies that target intolerance of uncertainty as well as specific pandemic and perinatal worry content for effective outcomes.