(PS2-19) Examining Associations Between Optimism and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms Across Race/ethnicity

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) contributes to significant impairment, increased medical costs, and a greater risk of harmful self-medicating behaviors (Hoge et al., 2004).  Approximately 5% of U.S. adults will receive a diagnosis of GAD at some point in their lives, and the COVID-19 pandemic has increased its prevalence (Martin, 2022).  Therefore, identifying constructs that may be protective against GAD symptoms is a worthy research endeavor.  Optimism, a construct that refers to the amount an individual predicts positive outcomes in their future, has been identified as one such potential protective factor (Blair et el., 2017).  Research has shown optimism may be related to decreased GAD symptoms (Biber et al., 2020).  However, little research has examined whether the relationship between the two variables is expressed differently within diverse racial/ethnic groups.  The aim of the present study is to explore if greater optimism is associated with lower GAD symptoms across a diverse sample and within four distinct racial/ethnic groups (Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and White). 

Participants for this study were 2207 undergraduate students (11.9% Black, 22.4% White, 32.6% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 33.1% Hispanic/Latinx) at a large Southwestern university.  GAD symptoms were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006).  Optimism was measured using the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R; Scheier et al., 1994).  Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationship between the two variables.  Model fit statistics were acceptable for each of the models that were estimated (RMSEA ≤ 0.08, TLI > 0.97, CFI > 0.98, SRMR < 0.04).

A structural equation model demonstrated that across the full diverse sample optimism is associated with GAD symptoms, β = -.51, 95% CI [-0.55, -0.47], R² = .26.  Additional models showed this was also the case within the Asian/Pacific Islander group (β = -.55, 95% CI [-0.61, -0.49], R² = .30), the Black group (β = -.51, 95% CI [-0.62, -0.40], R² = .26), the Hispanic/Latinx group (β = -.45, 95% CI [-0.52, -0.38], R² = .21), and the White group (β = -.56, 95% CI [-0.63, -0.49], R² = .32).  Based on the confidence intervals of the standardized effects, the association between optimism and GAD symptoms was meaningfully less within the Hispanic/Latinx group when compared to the Asian/Pacific Islander group and the White group.

These findings suggest optimism has a meaningful influence on GAD symptoms across a diverse sample and within the four distinct racial/ethnic groups examined in this study.  The negative association between the variables suggests optimism may protect against GAD symptoms within and across diverse racial/ethnic groups.  This supports the notion that optimism is an important protective factor not only within traditionally studied samples of White individuals, but also within diverse racial/ethnic groups as well.  Because optimism was found to be negatively associated with GAD symptoms within each of the racial/ethnic groups, it appears optimism is an important cross-cultural marker of resilience.  Further research should explore the role of optimism within GAD treatment outcomes among diverse racial/ethnic groups.