Deconstructing trait anxiety: a network perspective.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: For decades, the dominant paradigm in trait anxiety research has regarded the construct as signifying the underlying cause of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that supposedly reflect its presence. Recently, a network theory of personality has appeared. According to this perspective, trait anxiety is a formative construct emerging from interactions among its constitutive features (e.g., thought, feelings, behaviors); it is not a latent cause of these features. DESIGN: In this study, we characterized trait anxiety as a network system of interacting elements. METHO... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Heeren, Alexandre
Bernstein, Emily E
McNally, Richard J
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
Verlag/Hrsg.: Routledge
Schlagwörter: Adolescent / Adult / Aged / Anxiety / Belgium / Canada / Female / France / Humans / Male / Middle Aged / Personality / Personality Inventory / Switzerland / Young Adult / Trait anxiety / Graph theory / Graphical gaussian model / Network analysis / Network theory of personality
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26588114
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/221574

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: For decades, the dominant paradigm in trait anxiety research has regarded the construct as signifying the underlying cause of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that supposedly reflect its presence. Recently, a network theory of personality has appeared. According to this perspective, trait anxiety is a formative construct emerging from interactions among its constitutive features (e.g., thought, feelings, behaviors); it is not a latent cause of these features. DESIGN: In this study, we characterized trait anxiety as a network system of interacting elements. METHODS: To do so, we estimated a graphical gaussian model via the computation of a regularized partial correlation network in an unselected sample (N = 611). We also implemented modularity-based community detection analysis to test whether the features of trait anxiety cohere as a single network system. RESULTS: We find that trait anxiety can indeed be conceptualized as a single, coherent network system of interacting elements. CONCLUSIONS: This radically new approach to visualizing trait anxiety may offer an especially informative view of the interplay between its constitutive features. As prior research has implicated trait anxiety as a risk factor for the development of anxiety-related psychopathology, our findings also set the scene for novel research directions