Intolerance of Uncertainty and Information Processing: Evidence of Biased Recall and Interpretations

Cognitive Therapy and Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, February 2005 ( CResearch suggests that intolerance of uncertainty is a cognitive process involved in

excessive worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Although previous studies

indicate that intolerance of uncertainty and excessive worry are highly and specifically related, the question of how intolerance of uncertainty might lead to worry has

yet to be empirically examined. This paper presents two studies investigating intolerance of uncertainty and information processing. Study 1 used an incidental learning

task to examine the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and the recall of

stimuli denoting uncertainty. The results showed that participants high in intolerance

of uncertainty, relative to those low in intolerance of uncertainty, recalled a higher

proportion of words denoting uncertainty. Study 2 investigated whether intolerance

of uncertainty would be associated with threatening interpretations of ambiguous information. The results showed that participants high in intolerance of uncertainty reported more concern about ambiguous situations than did participants with low levels

of intolerance of uncertainty. In addition, the tendency to make threatening interpretations of ambiguous situations was more highly related to intolerance of uncertainty

than to worry, anxiety, or depression. Taken together, these findings suggest that intolerance of uncertainty is associated with information processing biases that may be

involved in the etiology of excessive worry and GAD.KEY WORDS: generalized anxiety disorder; intolerance of uncertainty; information processing in

anxiety.1Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University,

Montreal, Quebec, Canada.2Clinique des troubles anxieux, H

opital du Sacr

e-Coeur de Montr

eal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.3Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec,

Canada.4Correspondence should be directed to Michel J. Dugas, Department of Psychology, Concordia

University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6; e-mail: Michel.Dugas@

concordia.ca.570147-5916/05/0200-0057/0 C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2005), pp. 5770DOI: 10.1007/s10608-005-1648-9Intolerance of Uncertainty and Information Processing:

Evidence of Biased Recall and InterpretationsMichel J. Dugas,1,2,4 Mary Hedayati,1 Angie Karavidas,1 Kristin Buhr,1

Kylie Francis,1 and Natalie A. Phillips1,358 Dugas, Hedayati, Karavidas, Buhr, Francis, and PhillipsAccording to the cognitive theory of anxiety, information processing plays a

central role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders (Beck &

Clark, 1997). For example, cognitive theory states that anxious individuals tend to

selectively process threat cues from their environment...