Exploring Generalised Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the cognitive and behavioural mechanisms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder in adolescents: A qualitative study
IRAS ID
340774
Contact name
Polly Waite
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), characterised by excessive and uncontrollable worry, is one of the most common anxiety disorders amongst 11-19 year-olds (NHS Digital, 2018) and has been linked with negative outcomes including suicidal thoughts (Verona & Javdani, 2011) and social and academic difficulties (Kajastus et al., 2023). It is most often treated with a broad form of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) designed to treat a range of different anxiety disorders. However, recovery rates for children and adolescents with GAD following this treatment approach are reported at just 53% (Hudson et al., 2015).
As highlighted by Clark (2004), a key step in improving interventions for psychological disorders is identifying the psychological and behavioural factors that underly their maintenance. In adults with GAD, research has identified processes such as intolerance of uncertainty and faulty beliefs about worry. However, few studies have assessed whether these processes are applicable to adolescents, or if there are additional factors contributing to the maintenance of GAD in younger individuals that have not yet been identified.
Qualitative research offers the potential to deliver rich insight into lived experiences and can provide a deeper understanding of mental health problems (Braun & Clarke, 2019) - yet to our knowledge, no previous studies have explored GAD within a clinical adolescent population using qualitative methods. The present study aims to fill this gap, by exploring the experiences of 11-18 year-olds who have been diagnosed with GAD.
Through one-to-one interviews in which young people will be asked open questions and encouraged to share their experiences, we will study whether the cognitions and behaviours that have been shown to maintain GAD in adults also feature in GAD in adolescence. Finally, we will explore processes such as clinical perfectionism, which share certain characteristics with GAD (e.g., fear of failure and self-criticism), yet have not been assessed in young people with GAD. This qualitative data will be analysed using template analysis (King, 2012), which involves the researchers analysing transcripts of the data and identifying patterns in meaning.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
24/NS/0083
Date of REC Opinion
13 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion