Exploring the Relationships Between Neuroticism, Experiential Avoidance, and Worry: A Test of a Mediational Model

• Main Author: Fitzpatrick, Elliott J.
• Format: Others
• Published: OpenSIUC 2014
• Online Access: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/951; https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1955&context=dissertations

Recent research has demonstrated the importance of examining the relationships between personality and psychopathology (Krueger & Tackett, 2006). The present investigation sought to further develop this literature. More specifically, the following study examined the links between neuroticism, experiential avoidance, and worry. The focus of the current study was to replicate and extend previous findings on neuroticism, experiential avoidance, and worry. In addition, a novel mediational model was tested to determine if experiential avoidance is the pathway through which the relationship between neuroticism and worry is transmitted. Results of the study regarding the primary hypotheses were mixed. While experiential avoidance, worry, and neuroticism were all positively correlated as predicted, experiential avoidance did not predict worry after controlling for neuroticism. In addition, experiential avoidance was not found to mediate the relationship between neuroticism and worry. Supplementary analyses found that anxiety, stress, depression, worry, and experiential avoidance were all significantly positively correlated with one another. In addition, it was found that experiential avoidance increased the prediction of a worry after controlling for the effects of anxiety, stress, and depression, and experiential avoidance mediated the relationship between anxiety and worry. Clinical and theoretical implications, strengths and limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.