Anxiety Definition

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Anxiety as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary defines anxiety as “a state of uneasiness and distress about future uncertainties…apprehension…intense fear or dread…” (Boyer et al., 1985, p. 117). Bandura (1988) presents anxiety as “a state of anticipatory apprehension over possible deleterious happenings…an emotion of fright indexed by physiological arousal or subjective feelings of agitation” (p. 77-78). Within his definition, he also states that anxiety or emotional arousal can be considered both a physiological and emotional state.
The term anxiety can be traced back to its Latin origin: anxius. Dating as far back as the 17th Century, anxiety and its meaning has been constant. According to Lazarus & Averill (1972) the meaning of

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