Muscle tension in generalized anxiety disorder: A critical review of the literature

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive anxiety and worry that is difficult to control. The worry is accompanied by at least one of restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, or sleep disturbance. Anxiety may present with crying episodes, temper tantrums, and irritability in children. Compared to adults, youth are also more likely to report somatic complaints associated with anxiety such as gastrointestinal upset, headaches, and sweating. Psychotherapies for GAD include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and parent guidance to decrease accommodating behaviors. Pharmacotherapy options include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).

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Anxiety disorder on acting people in emergencies

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.825 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S565-S565

Author(s):

S. Oller Canet ◽

D. Madariaga Garcia ◽

S. Castillo Magaña ◽

S. Gasque Llopis ◽

V. Adell Anglés

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Muscle Tension ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Musculoskeletal Problems ◽

Competing Interest ◽

Image Position ◽

Age Range ◽

Better Than

IntroductionDisasters and emergencies generate a psychological impact on both survivors and response teams. Traumatic events and his memory would be a risk factor for anxiety disorders.ObjectivesDescribe the most common post emergency anxiety signs in a sample of Spanish people who responded directly to emergencies.MethodsStudy carried out by survey filled through Google Forms application; in this survey, we retrospectively value anxiety using the screening scale for generalized anxiety disorder of Carroll and Davidson.ResultsThe survey was answered by 20 people, of whom 60% were women 68.20% age range between 18–6 years and with university studies in the 70% of the interviewees. Four nurses, 2 doctors, 4 emergency assistants workers, 2 civil protection workers, 1 ambulance worker, 1 military, 3 policemen, 1 fire-fighter and 2 others. Sixty percent of cases did not received specific aid. The anxiety scale items that are most affected are musculoskeletal stress and sleep, with lower prevalence of psychological anxiety (Fig. 1). Women showed higher prevalence of psychological anxiety, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance.ConclusionsThe data reveals that the staff responding to emergencies recalled experienced musculoskeletal problems or sleeping disturbance better than psychological anxiety which was relegated to the background. Post-emergency treatment should be provided to all participants in emergencies including specific interventions for musculoskeletal stress and insomnia.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.Fig. 1Scale for generalized anxiety disorder of Carrol and Davidson results.

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Muscle tension in generalized anxiety disorder: Elevated muscle tonus or agitated movement?

Psychophysiology ◽

10.1111/j.1469-8986.1994.tb01039.x ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 189-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

RICHARD L. HAZLETT ◽

DANIEL R. McLEOD ◽

RUDOLF HOEHN-SARIC

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Muscle Tension ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Muscle Tonus

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Co-occurrence of personality disorders with panic disorder, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder: A review of the literature

Journal of Anxiety Disorders ◽

10.1016/0887-6185(89)90018-2 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 259-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Ronald B. Brooks ◽

Patricia L. Baltazar ◽

Dennis J. Munjack

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Panic Disorder ◽

Social Phobia ◽

Personality Disorders ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Review Of The Literature

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The French Version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) in a Nonclinical Sample

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000158 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 74 (3) ◽

pp. 119-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Martine Bouvard ◽

Anne Denis ◽

Jean-Luc Roulin

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Child Anxiety ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

French Version ◽

Confirmatory Factor

This article investigates the psychometric properties of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS). A group of 704 adolescents completed the questionnaires in their classrooms. This study examines potential confirmatory factor analysis factor models of the RCADS as well as the relationships between the RCADS and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-Revised (SCARED-R). A subsample of 595 adolescents also completed an anxiety questionnaire (Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised, FSSC-R) and a depression questionnaire (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, CES-D). Confirmatory factor analysis of the RCADS suggests that the 6-factor model reasonably fits the data. All subscales were positively intercorrelated, with rs varying between .48 (generalized anxiety disorder-major depression disorder) and .65 (generalized anxiety disorder-social phobia/obsessive-compulsive disorder). The RCADS total score and all the RCADS scales were found to have good internal consistency (> .70). The correlations between the RCADS subscales and their SCARED-R counterparts are generally substantial. Convergent validity was found with the FSSC-R and the CES-D. The study included normal adolescents aged 10 to 19. Therefore, the findings cannot be extended to children under 10, nor to a clinical population. Altogether, the French version of the RCADS showed reasonable psychometric properties.

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Psychometric Properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000470 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 878-890 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David Marcusson-Clavertz ◽

Oscar N. E. Kjell

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Social Desirability ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Experience Sampling ◽

Well Being ◽

Mind Wandering ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Psychological Variables

Abstract. Thinking about task-unrelated matters (mind wandering) is related to cognition and well-being. However, the relations between mind wandering and other psychological variables may depend on whether the former commence spontaneously or deliberately. The current two studies investigated the psychometric properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales (SDMWS; Carriere, Seli, & Smilek, 2013 ). Study 1 evaluated the stability of the scales over 2 weeks ( N = 284 at Time 1), whereas Study 2 ( N = 323) evaluated their relations to Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, Openness, Social desirability, and experience-sampling reports of intentional and unintentional mind wandering during an online cognitive task. The results indicated that the SDMWS were better fitted with a two-factor than a one-factor solution, although the fit was improved with the exclusion of one item. The scales exhibited strong measurement invariance across gender and time, and moderately high test-retest reliability. Spontaneous mind wandering predicted Generalized anxiety disorder and experience-sampling reports of unintentional mind wandering, whereas Deliberate mind wandering predicted Openness and experience-sampling reports of intentional mind wandering. Furthermore, Spontaneous mind wandering showed a negative association with social desirability of weak-to-medium strength. In sum, the scales generally showed favorable psychometric properties.

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