Behavioral Indicators of Emotional Avoidance and Subsequent Worry in Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression

Abstract

Empirically-supported theories posit that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience uncomfortable affective states and distress in response to perceived emotionally-laden contexts (e.g., interpersonal situations), and are motivated to avoid emotional content through worry. Although we have extensive self-report and physiological evidence for the role of emotional avoidance and subsequent worry in GAD, behavioral evidence is lacking. In the current study, we investigated behavioral avoidance of emotion and subsequent worry in GAD, as well as in depression. Participants viewed either an anxious or neutral video and then viewed slides consisting of mutilation images, followed by a worry assessment. We recorded facial expressivity during the slide-viewing task. We used diminished facial expressivity and disengagement from the slide-viewing task as indices of behavioral avoidance. Our findings provide preliminary support for the assertion that emotional avoidance demonstrates an exacerbating role in worry and that this relationship might be particularly pronounced in GAD.