City Research Online

Abstract

Objective: Worry is a common and distressing problem in Parkinson’s disease(PD). However, little is known about the nature and content of worry in PD and how it might differ to non-PD populations. The study aimed to explore the content and nature of worry in middle and older aged adults with and without PD.

Method: 4 groups of participants: 20 PD patients(10 high worry, 10 low worry) 19 middle and older aged adults(10 high worry, 9 low worry) completed the Catastrophising Interview(CI) for three worry topics. Worriers were classified(high/low) based on Penn State Worry Questionnaire scores. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis.

Results: High worriers showed a greater diversity of worry topics than low worriers. Health worries differentiated high and low worriers in the non-PD sample but were common across all PD participants. The CI revealed that the root concern of worry was often different to that initially described. In particular, PD high worriers were more likely to express underlying concerns about negative self-perception and death/severe incapacity.

Conclusion: The CI was able to identify the root cause of worry, demonstrating the value of this technique in the exploration and treatment of worry and psychological distress. Exploring worry content may help to distinguish patients with problematic worry, with worries about self-perception and death/severe incapacity characteristic of high worriers. Therapeutic interventions designed to alleviate problematic worry and distress in PD need to take account of the realities of living with PD and the potentially realistic nature of worries which may appear catastrophic in a healthy population.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the accepted version of the following article: Wright A., Hurt C. S., Gorniak S., and Brown R. G. (2015), An exploration of worry content and catastrophic thinking in middle-aged and older-aged adults with and without Parkinson's disease, Int J Geriatr Psychiatry, 30, 376–383, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gps.4146. In addition, authors may also transmit, print and share copies with colleagues, provided that there is no systematic distribution of the submitted version, e.g. posting on a listserve, network or automated delivery. Article in press.
Publisher Keywords:	worry, Parkinson’s disease, content, older adult, catastrophising
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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