The Relationship Between High Standards, General Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Repeated Experiences of Discrepancy, and Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Individuals Aged 18 and Above: A Test of Mediation and Moderated Mediation Models

Asghari, Fatemeh; Shahidi, Shahriar; Shokri, Omid

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The Relationship Between High Standards, General Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Repeated Experiences of Discrepancy, and Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Individuals Aged 18 and Above: A Test of Mediation and Moderated Mediation Models

Fatemeh Asghari¹

, Shahriar Shahidi ^*²

, Omid Shokri¹

1- Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2- Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran , s-shahidi@sbu.ac.ir

Abstract: (242 Views)

Generalized anxiety disorder has a significant prevalence and is associated with mental discomfort or disruption in life. Therefore, studying the contributory factors to its formation matters. The first aim of this study was to test a mediation model, linking high standards to symptoms of generalized anxiety, with repeated experience of discrepancy as a mediator. The second aim was to examine a moderated mediation model linking high standards to symptoms of generalized anxiety, with repeated experience of discrepancy as a mediator and general self-efficacy beliefs as a moderator. The design of the present study was correlational. The study’s population was individuals aged 18 and above, present in Tehran between November 11th and 26th, 2023. A sample of 382 individuals present in 11 districts of Tehran, was recruited using a three-stage cluster sampling method. The measurement tools were the Socially Prescribed Perfectionism subscale, the Short Scale of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the Discrepancy subscale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. To test the mediation model, the indirect effect of high standards on symptoms of generalized anxiety was examined. Significant results provided evidence supporting the partial mediating role of repeated experience of discrepancy. To test the moderated mediation model, following Hayes (2022), the significance of the conditional indirect effect was examined using the moderated mediation index. Non-significant results indicated that the combined moderated mediation model was not supported. The confirmation of the mediating role of repeated experiences of discrepancy indicates that possessing more extensive causal chains, with the content of how to achieve outcomes or desires, make the repeated experience of discrepancy more likely, resulting in higher chances of developing generalized anxiety symptoms. The rejection of combined moderated mediation model could be attributed to factors such as complex interactions between mediator and moderator variables, or properties of the discrepancy subscale used.

Keywords: General self-efficacy beliefs, Generalized anxiety disorder, High standards, Repeated experience of discrepancy

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2024/05/6 | Revised: 2025/05/22 | Accepted: 2025/02/25 | ePublished ahead of print: 2025/05/22

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