Be preoccupied and worried by predicament (6)
I believe the answer is:
fixate
'be preoccupied' is the definition.
(fixating on something is being preoccupied with it)
'worried by predicament' is the wordplay.
'worried' becomes 'ate' (something worrying may eat someone up).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'predicament' becomes 'fix' (I've seen this before).
'ate' after 'fix' is 'FIXATE'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for fixate that I've seen before include "Obsess (on something)" , "Become absorbed" .)