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Introduction: This study examined relationships between personality disorder (PD) features, Big Five personality traits, and interpersonal problems with anxiety. Method: Older adults ( N = 130) completed the Geriatric Anxiety Scale, Coolidge Axis Two Inventory, Big Five Inventory-2, and Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Problems. Pearson correlation analyses were used to assess simple relationships between anxiety with PD features (CATI scales), Big Five personality domains (BFI-2 scales), and interpersonal problems (CSIP scales). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the extent to which the PD scales of the CATI, the personality scales of the BFI-2, and the scales of the CSIP explained variance in anxiety. Results: Anxiety was positively correlated with 13 of 14 PD scales, ranging from .23 (Narcissistic) to .61 (Depressive). Regarding Big Five personality traits, anxiety was negatively associated with Agreeableness (−.23), Conscientiousness (−.30), and Extraversion (−.31) but was positively associated with Negative Emotionality (.56). Regarding interpersonal problems, anxiety was positively related to all eight CSIP scales, ranging from Self-sacrificing (.30) to Distant/Cold (.62). Regression analyses indicated that PD features accounted for the most variance in anxiety symptoms (53%), followed by interpersonal problems (46%), and Big Five personality traits (33%). Discussion: Anxiety appears to be meaningfully associated with PD features, several aspects of Big Five personality traits, and interpersonal problems, suggesting that these variables may play important roles in the development and maintenance of anxiety, or vice versa. Our findings especially speak to the growing awareness of the deleterious impact of PD features on clinical syndromes in later life, as evidenced by strong comorbidities with anxiety.

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The aims of this study were to examine age-differences regarding various worry components among younger and older adults and to characterize the relationships between worry domains and anxiety. A total of 311 younger adults (18 -30 years) and 100 older adults (65+ years) completed seven worry and anxiety questionnaires, focusing on worry content, worry severity, and responses to worry. A series of 2 × 2 ANOVAs was computed to examine differences in worry and anxiety related to age and gender. Interaction effects indicated that gender differences among younger adults were significantly more pronounced than older adults with women reporting greater worry and anxiety than men. Main effects of age indicated that younger adults reported greater worry than older across all worry domains. Worry and anxiety measures were found to be highly correlated across all domains. Findings indicate that worry is fundamentally related to anxiety across age groups and that a variety of aspects of worry should be considered to understand the breadth of worry's influence on anxiety. Additionally, age and gender have unique relationships with worry and anxiety and interact to complicate individuals' symptom profiles. Thus, worry is a multifaceted construct that is crucial to understanding anxiety in general and warrants multifaceted assessment and intervention.