Intolerance of Uncertainty as a Transdiagnostic Factor

Abstract

With the rapidly changing world and the impact of life conditions, uncertainty has become one of the concepts that we encounter in all areas of life. Uncertainty, which makes its presence felt almost every moment of time in daily life, is a disturbing and anxious situation for most people in the face of events or situations. Intolerance to uncertainty is the cognitive, emotional and behavioral response generated by the biased information process, which leads to high threat level, misconception and difficult to deal with. Intolerance to uncertainty is a concept developed against the backdrop of widespread anxiety disorder, after which its relationship with many mental disorders is revealed. Researches; it shows that people with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder have higher UI levels than healthy controls. For many mental disorders, it is considered as a transdiagnostic factor, because it is a revealing and sustaining factor. Recently, the importance of transdiagnostic factors in mental disorders is emphasized. The literature on the intolerance of uncertainty is increasing. In this review, intolerance to uncertainty is examined with a general perspective in line with the current literature, and the findings will be discussed both conceptually, measurement methods and clinical results will be evaluated. As a transdiagnostic factor, intolerance to uncertainty should be considered in the clinical approach because of its cognitive, emotional and behavioral structure.

Keywords

• intolerance of uncertainty
• anxiety disorders
• obsesive compulsive disorder
• review