Examining characteristics of worry in relation to depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and attempts

Background: Pathological worry is defined as worry that is excessive, pervasive, and uncontrollable. Although pathological worry is related to depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, less is understood about what specific features of worry confer risk for these mental health conditions. The current study examined associations between four characteristics of worry—frequency, duration, controllability, and content—and self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and lifetime suicide attempts. Methods: A sample of 548 community participants (53.6% female, 45.4% male, 0.5% transgender male, 0.2% transgender female, and 0.2% gender non-binary), aged 19–98 years (M = 36.54, SD = 12.33), was recruited via Amazon's MTurk and completed a battery of self-report questionnaires online. Results: Results indicated that controllability of worry was uniquely associated with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation above and beyond other characteristics of worry, demographic variables, negative affect, and future-oriented repetitive thinking. Lifetime suicide attempts were found non-significant to these mental health outcomes. Frequency of worry was also positively related to depression. Limitations: This study utilized a cross-sectional design with exclusive self-report measures. Conclusions: Overall, these findings suggest that controllability of one's thoughts may be a key transdiagnostic factor that confers risk for a variety of psychopathology-related concerns. Clinical relevance includes identifying potential risk factors for varying psychopathology. Future research should examine relationships between worry controllability and anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and attempts, within clinical samples and utilizing a variety of methodologies.