Age-Related Differences in Worry and Related Processes
Abstract
This study investigated the hypothesis that older adults would show age-related reductions in the tendency to worry in both their retrospective accounts and through cross-sectional age comparisons with a sample of younger adults. We also sought to determine whether age differences would be evident in psychological processes associated with a tendency to worry in general adult samples (intolerance of uncertainty and beliefs in the functional value of worry). Support was found for the hypothesized age-related reduction in worry in both retrospective reports among the older adults and cross-sectional age comparisons. Older adults were also found to report less intolerance of uncertainty and less belief in the functional value of worrying compared to younger adults. These findings suggest that worry-proneness is reduced in late adulthood and that a greater ability to tolerate uncertainty in life and to see less value in worrying may partially account for this. Developmental and contextual changes that may account for these findings are considered.
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Previous studies outside a pandemic context have found that older adults tend to worry less than younger adults.
“It should be mentioned that the tendency for older adults to worry less than younger adults have also been found in previous studies conducted outside a pandemic context [28, 29].”
From Worry and mental health in the Covid-19 pandemic: vulnerability factors in the general Norwegian population (2021) · cites this paper as [28]
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A Confluence of Worries: Grandparents in Skipped-Generation Households in Thailand
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Bottesi, G., Martignon, A., Cerea, S., & Ghisi, M. (2018) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.016 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Wang, Q., Liu, Y., & Mati, K. A. (2020) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2020.01.022 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The Roles of Spiritual Well-being and Tolerance of Uncertainty in Prediction of Happiness in Elderly
Khodarahimi, S., Ghadampour, E., & Karami, A. (2021) · Anales de Psicología · doi:10.6018/analesps.446871 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“Particularly, studies indicated that older adults report less intolerance of uncertainty and less belief in the functional value of worrying compared to younger adults (Basevitz et al., 2008).”
BackgroundLasker, J. N., Sogolow, E. D., Olenik, J. M., Sass, D. A., & Weinrieb, R. M. (2010) · Women & Health · doi:10.1080/03630242.2010.498750 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Increased age also has been associated with reduced uncertainty (Basevitz et al., 2008).”
BackgroundShiloh, S., Peleg, S., & Nudelman, G. (2021) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2021.1925670 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“This agrees with findings showing age-related reduction in worry and intolerance of uncertainty (Basevitz et al., 2008).”
ResultHeritability of overlapping impulsivity and compulsivity dimensional phenotypes
Tiego, J., Chamberlain, S. R., Harrison, B. J., Dawson, A., Albertella, L., Youssef, G. J., Fontenelle, L. F., & Yücel, M. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-71013-x · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Okayama, S., Minihan, S., Andrews, J. L., Daniels, S., Grunewald, K., Richards, M., Wang, W., Hasan, Y., & Schweizer, S. (2024) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-024-02724-z · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“The decrease in IU from adulthood to older age [12] is supported by the dual-process framework of aging, which suggests that older adults tolerate uncontrollability well because they are used to adapting to functional losses, such as cognitive and health decline [13].”
BackgroundSaid, D. S., Agarwal, S., Alzoubi, Y. I., Momin, M., & Naqvi, A. (2023) · Industrial and Commercial Training · doi:10.1108/ict-03-2022-0017 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Sajjadi, M., Rassouli, M., Bahri, N., & Mohammadipour, F. (2015) · Indian Journal of Palliative Care · doi:10.4103/0973-1075.156508 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“[28,29] The lack of significant correlation between these two variables in this study might be due to its rather small sample size and the point that participants’ age was close to one another, which could hide the correlation between age and uncertainty.”
Serotonin transporter andBDNFpolymorphisms interact to predict trait worry
Bredemeier, K., Beevers, C. G., & McGeary, J. E. (2014) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2014.909928 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Worry alters speed-accuracy tradeoffs but does not impair sustained attention
Hallion, L. S., Kusmierski, S. N., & Caulfield, M. K. (2020) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103597 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Briefly Assessing Repetitive Thought Dimensions
Segerstrom, S. C., Hardy, J. K., Evans, D. R., Boggero, I. A., Alden, L. E., & Stanton, A. L. (2015) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191115586458 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“, the tendency to think about negative events), and solving purpose (i.e., the tendency to seek certainty and solve problems; Basevitz et al., 2008; Davey, 1994), it is difficult to know whether older adults think less repetitively, think more 586458 ASMXXX10.”
Experimental examination of worry among older and young adults
Gould, C. E., Gerolimatos, L. A., & Edelstein, B. A. (2014) · International Psychogeriatrics · doi:10.1017/s1041610214000891 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Many studies (e.g. Basevitz et al., 2008; Gould and Edelstein, 2010) have found that older adults worry less than young adults.”
BackgroundResultSliwinski, M. J., FREED, S. A., Scott, S., Pasquini, G., & Smyth, J. M. (2020) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaa174 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Older age corresponds to lower levels of high-activation emotions such as anger along with other indicators of well-being, such as stress and worry (Basevitz et al., 2008; Stone et al., 2010).”
BackgroundHandler, I., & Tan, C. S. L. (2022) · Journal Of Vacation Marketing · doi:10.1177/13567667221122108 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Studies on aging and development by Basevitz et al. (2008) and Wilson et al. (2021) indicate that older individuals exhibit a lower propensity to worry.”
BackgroundThe impact of COVID-19 on hand therapy practice
Ivy, C. C., Doerrer, S. B., Naughton, N., & Priganc, V. W. (2021) · Journal of Hand Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.jht.2021.01.007 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Why do Japanese people visit hot springs during a pandemic? A psychographic segmentation analysis
Handler, I., & Kawaminami, J. (2022) · Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism · doi:10.1016/j.jort.2022.100530 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Wagener, A., Stassart, C., & Etienne, A.-M. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19105908 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“, worry and rumination) than Older Adults which has already been highlighted outside any pandemic context [58,59].”
BackgroundDaily worry, rumination, and sleep in late life
Zhou, Z., Birditt, K. S., Leger, K. A., & Fingerman, K. L. (2024) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2024.111622 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Collett, G., Young, W. R., Martin, W. E., & Anderson, R. M. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph182212188 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“For example, while older adults generally report worrying less than younger adults [53–55], older adults tend to report worrying more about the health and welfare of loved ones, despite a lower likelihood of worrying about their own health compared with younger adults [54].”
BackgroundHandler, I. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14042306 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Burnout in healthcare: can job autonomy heal, or does context hold the key?
Reyes-Luján, J. J., Cruz-Ortiz, V., Antino, M., & Salanova, M. (2024) · International Journal of Workplace Health Management · doi:10.1108/ijwhm-05-2024-0093 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Liu, K., Nijmeh, J., & Warren, S. L. (2021) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191121993223 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“This is especially important given findings that the magnitude of method effects related to wording increase with verbal ability based on developmental age, and findings that worry can manifest differently across age groups (Barahmand, 2008; Basevitz et al., 2008; Marsh, 1986).”
Backgroundde Guzman, A. B., Lacao, R. A., & Larracas, C. (2014) · Educational Gerontology · doi:10.1080/03601277.2014.918837 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“According to Basevitz et al. (2008), elderly people had less intolerance of uncertainty and less belief in the functional value of worrying compared to younger adults.”
ResultClinical Significance of Individual GAD Symptoms in Later Life
Miloyan, B. H., & Pachana, N. A. (2015) · Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology · doi:10.1177/0891988715606231 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Donhauser, T., Apfelbacher, C., Kann, G., Masur, C., Kamudoni, P., Salek, S., Abels, C., & Gabes, M. (2023) · Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes · doi:10.1186/s41687-023-00596-6 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Life Satisfaction in Adults: The Effect of Religiosity, Worry, and Perceived Physical Health State
Πλατσίδου, Μ. (2012) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4963-4_6 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Yu, M. H. M., Cao, Y., Fung, S. S. Y., Kwan, G. S. Y., Tse, Z. C. K., & Shum, D. H. K. (2025) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2025.102975 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
A Quantitative Examination of Half-Belief in Superstition
Caspi, A., Shmuel, E., & Chajut, E. (2023) · Journal of Individual Differences · doi:10.1027/1614-0001/a000401 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Atan, G. (2023) · Epilepsy & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109401 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Correlates of Worry About Health Care Costs Among Older Adults
Choi, N. G., & DiNitto, D. M. (2016) · Journal of Applied Gerontology · doi:10.1177/0733464816650803 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The Association of Child Abuse Experiences and Intolerance of Uncertainty in Young Adults
Dirican, A. H., Kozak, E. D., Kavakçı, Ö., & Sönmez, B. (2023) · Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/00332747.2023.2205800 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“, 2003) because they have more coping skills to withstand life’s adversities and see less value in worrying compared to their younger counterparts (Basevitz et al., 2008).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialBabcock, R. L., MaloneBeach, E. E., Hou, B., & Smith, M. A. (2012) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2011.615736 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“In general, older adults tend to report a decrease in the frequency and intensity of emotional experiences (Sullivan, Mikels, & Carstensen, 2010), perhaps due to their tendency to have a greater tolerance of uncertainty (Basevitz et al., 2008).”
BackgroundExamining social support and its relation to worry in Malaysia
Saifuddin, A. B. A., Tam, C. L., Lim, P. C., & Bonn, G. B. (2019) · Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology · doi:10.1017/prp.2019.18 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Schwab, R., Droste, A., Stewen, K., Elger, T., Theis, S., Heimes, A.-S., Peters, K., Schmidt, M., Brenner, W., & Hasenburg, A. (2022) · International Journal of General Medicine · doi:10.2147/ijgm.s373191 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Worries are defined as anticipations of possible but yet uncertain negative future events, as opposed to anxiety, which is often accompanied by somatic and behavioral aspects: thus, worries are considered as a component of anxiety.(17,18) While non-chronic worry is observed as an acute adaptive response to a trigger o…”
BackgroundWan, P., Hu, J., Su, C., & Li, Q. (2024) · INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing · doi:10.1177/00469580241273119 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“13,14 Individuals who cannot bear a high level of uncertainty have more demands for predictability, 15 and tend to overly perceive the situation as a threat because they are concerned about the negative effect of potential uncertainty, which is linked to anxiety or depression.”
BackgroundPerceived expectations for active aging: the role of motivational and personality factors
Radoš, S., Pavlova, M. K., Rothermund, K., & Silbereisen, R. Κ. (2024) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2024.2385450 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“On the one hand, compared to younger adults, older adults tend to worry less and value personal relationships more (Basevitz et al., 2008; Buchinger et al., 2022), whereas younger adults have comparatively more development-and status-related goals (Buchinger et al., 2022).”
Chao, S., & Yu, M.-H. (2021) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbab157 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Basevitz et al. (2008) defined worry as the cognitive component and disruptions as the behavioral element of anxiety concerning uncertainty associated with current or future negative events.”
BackgroundBlix, I., Birkeland, M. S., & Thoresen, S. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-192098/v1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
KARDUZ, F. F. A., & KELEŞOĞLU, F. (2022) · Cumhuriyet International Journal of Education · doi:10.30703/cije.1003610 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Erzhanova, A., Koncha, V., & Kharkhurin, A. V. (2023) · Психологические исследования · doi:10.54359/ps.v16i90.1435 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Barlett, N. D., & Barlett, C. P. (2018) · Journal of Adult Development · doi:10.1007/s10804-018-9302-4 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Oro över coronapandemin i det svenska samhället
Kulin, J., Sevä, I. J., Hjerm, M., & Connolly, F. F. (2021) · Sociologisk Forskning · doi:10.37062/sf.58.22104 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Validation of the intolerance of uncertainty scale-12 in a sample of pregnant people
Costello, K., Timko, C. A., Anderson, D. A., & Hormes, J. M. (2025) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-025-07434-1 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“In addition, age has been demonstrated to have an inverse relationship with symptoms of anxiety [4], while symptoms of depression appear to either follow a U-shaped pattern with lowest levels in middle age [2, 65] or linearly increase across time [64].”
Koscinski, B., Do, C., Allan, N. P., & Suhr, J. A. (2024) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2024.2367704 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“These findings are consistent with prior research that has shown an association between IU and anxiety symptoms in older adults (Basevitz et al., 2008), and across the lifespan (e.g. McEvoy et al., 2019).”
Taylor, M. M., & Snyder, H. R. (2021) · Emerging Adulthood · doi:10.1177/21676968211054969 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Relevant to the current study, the emerging adulthood period features continued cognitive control development (Veroude et al., 2013), as well as heightened stress, RNT, and internalizing risk (J. J. Arnett et al., 2014; Basevitz et al., 2008; Kessler et al., 2012; Zimmermann & Iwanski, 2014).”
BackgroundAge-Related Differences in Home Experiences and Worries During COVID-19Preprint
Hunsaker, A., & Hargittai, E. (2020) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/gbzcr · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Chama, J., Adebiyi, R., Volpi, C. R., Ononaku, U., Maigida, J., Aka, A., Katu, C., Shutt, A., Charurat, M. E., Adebajo, S. B., et al. (2023) · JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes · doi:10.1097/qai.0000000000003206 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Lau, S. S. S., Fong, J. W. L., & Cheng, M. C. H. (2025) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2025.18 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Munoz, S. R., Postmus, D., de Vries, S. T., Martirosyan, L., Bahri, P., Hillege, H. L., & Mol, P. G. M. (2023) · Drug Safety · doi:10.1007/s40264-022-01270-4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Previous studies have shown that worry regarding personal matters decreases with age [46, 47]; while we evaluated other people’s risk and not personal risk, the same direction was maintained.”
BackgroundLiu, Z., Liu, Y., Li, A., & Zhu, T. (2023) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1136152 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“People with higher levels of intolerance need to ensure the predictability of the future and tend to avoid unexpected events (10).”
BackgroundHalilova, J. G., Fynes‐Clinton, S., Addis, D. R., & Rosenbaum, R. S. (2024) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/abm/kaae053 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“IU diminishes as people transition from young adult-hood to middle and advanced age, as they learn that excessive worrying about the unknown is counterproductive and as their belief in the functional value of worry weakens [66].”
BackgroundGrowney, C. M., Chu, L., & Carstensen, L. L. (2024) · Work Aging and Retirement · doi:10.1093/workar/waae020 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Chen, Y., Niu, X., Liao, H., & Wang, J. (2025) · British Journal of Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjdp.70017 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
What now? Defining capricious supervision and examining its impact on employee strain
Han, S., Park, H., Kim, J. K., & Emich, K. J. (2025) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/00187267251379398 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Given that age may influence levels of uncertainty intolerance (Basevitz et al., 2008), we cannot rule out the possibility that our sample characteristics may have amplified or reduced the negative impact of capricious supervision on employees.”
Wang, X., Zhu, R., Qin, B., Wei, J., Gao, L., Cao, M., Gong, C., & Xu, X. (2026) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/cfs.70164 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Repetitive thought, cognition, and systemic inflammation in the midlife in the United States study
Gloger, E. M., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2022) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2022.2092104 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…risk for coronary heart disease, higher resting blood pressure and vulnerability to depression and anxiety; however, specific types may also assist with the future planning (Basevitz et al., 2008; Harrington & Blankenship, 2002; Kubzansky et al., 1997; Segerstrom et al., 1999, 2000; Watkins, 2008).”
BackgroundThe Relationship of Sarcopenia with Geriatric Syndromes and Folate
Kanat, B. B., & Yavuzer, H. (2022) · European Journal of Geriatrics and Gerontology · doi:10.4274/ejgg.galenos.2022.2022-5-1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Laguerre, R. A., & Barnes-Farrell, J. L. (2024) · Work Aging and Retirement · doi:10.1093/workar/waae015 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Basevitz, P., Pushkar, D., Chaikelson, J., Conway, M., & Dalton, C.
- Affiliations
- Canarie (CA)
- Concordia University (CA)
- Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Pushkar, Dolores
- ORCID
- Conway, Michael
- Venue
- The International Journal of Aging and Human Development
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-04-07
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 283-305
- ISSN
- 0091-4150 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-3535
- OpenAlex
- W2004869973
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 5.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The International Journal of Aging and Human Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- worry, age differences, older adults, old age, intolerance of uncertainty
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Anxiety, Defense Mechanisms, Female, Humans, Internal-External Control, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Retrospective Studies, United States, Age Distribution, Sex Distribution
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