Building Tolerance for Uncertainty

This worksheet is designed with the purpose of assisting clinicians explore intolerance of uncertainty (IU) with their clients.

Research suggests that IU is a cognitive vulnerability factor for worry in the adult population (Buhr & Dugas, 2006; Koerner & Dugas, 2008) and emerging research suggests that the model may be useful within the child and adolescent population (Watts et al 2021; Laugeson et al., 2003; Dugas et al., 2012).

References and Further Reading 

  • Watts, R., Cossar, J., Ferreira, N. (2021). Applicability of the intolerance of uncertainty model to Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms in young people.Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 9(2).
  • Laugesen, N., Dugas, M. J., & Bukowski, W. M. (2003). Understanding adolescent worry: the application of a cognitive model. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 31(1), 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1021721332181.
  • Dugas, M. J., Laugesen, N., & Bukowski, W. M. (2012). Intolerance of uncertainty, fear of anxiety, and adolescent worry. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 40(6), 863–870. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9611.
  • Boswell, J.F., Thompson-Hollands, J., Farchione, T.J. and Barlow, D. (2013) Intolerance of Uncertainty: A Common Factor in the Treatment of Emotional Disorders. Wiley Periodicals. J Clin Psychol. 00 p. 1-16.
  • Osmanagaoglu, N., Creswell, C. and Dodd, H.F. (2018) Intolerance of Uncertainty, anxiety, and worry in children and adolescents:A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. Vol. 225. p. 80-90.
  • Buhr, K. and Dugas, M.J. (2006) ‘Investigating the construct validity of intolerance of uncertainty and its unique relationship with worry’, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20(2), pp. 222–236. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2004.12.004.
  • Moloodi, R. et al. (2021) Evaluation of hierarchical model of trait and disorder- specific intolerance of uncertainty in anxiety disorder symptoms [Preprint]. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-418012/v1.