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Adult - Anxiety

The moderating effect of Numeracy and Cumulative Exposure to Stress on Intolerance of Uncertainty

(PS2-52) The Moderating Effect of Numeracy and Cumulative Exposure to Stress on Intolerance of Uncertainty

Friday, November 15, 2024
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST
Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown
Abstract Text: Background: Deficits in numeracy, the process of applying mathematical skills to the real world, may distort risk perception such that individuals low in numeracy may often miscalculate situational risk. Cumulative stress exposure has been found to contribute to the development of negative affect through increases in intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Because deficits in numeracy may contribute to an inability to accurately appraise risk and thus proneness to misperceive the dangerousness of uncertainty, and that individuals with high or low life stress may differ in their tolerance of uncertainty, these factors may concurrently impact mechanisms of negative affect such as IU. Thus, we sought to explore the interaction between numeracy ability and cumulative stress exposure on IU.
Method: Participants (N=60, 75% female, M/SDage=19.75/1.06) completed measures assessing numeracy ability, cumulative stress exposure and IU at a single timepoint.
Results: When entered as predictors in a multiple regression, numeracy and stress did not exert a significant effect on IU (F(2,57)=.29, p=.74, R2=.01). However, the addition of an interaction term (β=.70, p=.05) yielded a significant increase in R2 (ΔR2=.066, p< .05), though the overall model was still not significant (p=.21). Probing the interaction, we found that the interaction held such that the relationship between numeracy and IU was negative and significant for individuals low in stress exposure (β=-.44, p< .05) and nonsignificant in individuals high in numeracy (β=.10, p=.52).


Conclusions: Our results suggest a moderating effect of cumulative stress on numeracy and IU, such that, in the context of low exposure to cumulative life stress, having a lower ability to calculate risk may be associated with increased IU. However, with higher exposure to significant negative life events, numeracy may exert less influence on IU. Given the exploratory nature of this study, however, and the relatively small and homogenous sample, findings should be interpreted with caution, and future research should examine this relationship further.