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Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3) subscales predict unique variance in anxiety and depressive symptoms

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... The ASI-3 assesses the different concerns participants may have regarding their anxiety sensitivity based on responses to 18 questions, e.g., "It is important for me not to appear nervous" and "When I cannot keep my mind on a task, I worry that I might be going crazy" [26,27]. This instrument does not specify a recall period and measures how the participant is feeling at the moment they are responding to the questionnaire. ...
... Scores for each item are added and can range from 0 to 72. Scores of 0 to 17 indicate almost no anxiety sensitivity, 18 to 35 indicate low anxiety sensitivity, 36 to 53 indicate moderate anxiety sensitivity, and 54 to 72 indicate high anxiety sensitivity [26,27]. This instrument has been validated [26,27]. ...
... Scores of 0 to 17 indicate almost no anxiety sensitivity, 18 to 35 indicate low anxiety sensitivity, 36 to 53 indicate moderate anxiety sensitivity, and 54 to 72 indicate high anxiety sensitivity [26,27]. This instrument has been validated [26,27]. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.93 for this study. ...
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Background The total burden of migraine includes not only the episodes with headache pain but extends throughout the interictal periods. Interictal symptoms and associated psychological responses may profoundly impact well-being and drive treatment-seeking behavior. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with participants aged ≥ 18 years, 250 with episodic migraine (EM) and 250 with chronic migraine (CM), having ≥ 4 monthly migraine headache days. All were naïve to galcanezumab or began ≤ 6 months before survey completion. The study evaluated factors associated with the Migraine Interictal Burden Scale (MIBS-4), including social determinants of health and well-being. Multiple linear regression, logistic regression, and random forests (RF) were used to explore predictors of MIBS-4. Results The majority of participants (90%) were female with a mean (standard deviation) age of 40.6 (± 12.0) years and 18.1 (± 12.7) years since the first migraine episode. Sociodemographically, the EM and CM groups were similar. Common comorbidities were anxiety disorder (45%) and depression (44%). Migraine family history was reported in 59% of participants. MIBS-4 was correlated with a number of diverse variables, including well-being, anxiety sensitivity, income, aura symptoms, and the worst migraine pain in the year before starting galcanezumab. Linear and logistic regression identified years since the first symptom, worst migraine attack pain, premonitory symptoms, and income as significant predictors. RF explained more of the variance than multiple linear regression and introduced additional concepts to the prediction of MIBS, identifying well-being (WHO-5 total score), the WHO-5 item “cheerful and in good spirits,” worry about exercise, and fear of missing social obligations as significant predictors. Socioeconomic status and income were also critical explanatory variables for interictal burden (IIB) based on regression modeling and RF. Still, income was the only variable significantly associated with IIB across regression and RF methods. Conclusions Interictal burden should be considered in the medical care of people with migraine. This additional burden is holistic, with psychosocial and socioeconomic elements in addition to residual symptoms. It is essential to consider this when assessing the impact of IIB.
... Psychometric studies suggest AS, measured by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Peterson & Reiss, 1992) or the ASI-3 (Taylor et al., 2007), has a global and three lower-order dimensions: cognitive concerns (fear of cognitive dysfunction sensations given beliefs they will result in loss of control), physical concerns (fear of autonomic arousal sensations given beliefs they will result in physical catastrophe), and social concerns (fear of publiclyobservable arousal sensations given beliefs they will result in social censure). These dimensions show distinct associations with different forms of psychopathology (e.g., cognitive concerns with depression, physical concerns with panic, social concerns with social anxiety; Allan et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Saulnier et al., 2018). AS is also associated with an increased risk for substance misuse as individuals turn to substances to cope with their feared arousal sensations and associated negative emotions (Stewart et al., 1999;Stewart & Kushner, 2001). ...
... Kenardy et al. (1996) suggested binge eaters may be especially sensitive to negative affect, reinforcing their coping-driven binge eating. Furthermore, AS (especially cognitive concerns) is a risk for depressive symptoms (Naragon-Gainey, 2010;Olthuis et al., 2014). Binge eating is often used to relieve depressive affect (Deaver et al., 2003;Sherry et al., 2014;Wedig & Nock, 2010), raising the possibility of an indirect pathway from AS to binge eating via depressive symptoms. ...
... Participants rated agreement with each item on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 (very little) to 4 (very much). The ASI-3 total score (i.e., global AS) and its three subscales (i.e., dimensions) have high internal consistency, and convergent, discriminant, structural, and criterion-related validity (Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007). ...
Article
Anxiety sensitivity (AS) – characterized by a persistent fear that arousal-related bodily sensations will lead to serious cognitive, physical, and/or social consequences – is associated with various psychopathologies, including depressive symptoms and binge eating. This 3-week, 3-wave longitudinal study examined the relation between AS (including its global AS factor and lower-order AS cognitive, physical, and social concern dimensions), depressive symptoms, and binge eating among 410 undergraduates from two universities. Using generalized estimating equation models, we found that global AS, AS social concerns, and depressive symptoms predicted binge eating during any given week. Mediation analyses showed that global AS (as a latent variable with its lower-order AS dimensions as indicators), AS cognitive concerns, and AS physical concerns at Wave 1 predicted subsequent increases in depressive symptoms at Wave 2, which, in turn, led to increases in binge eating at Wave 3. Findings contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between AS, depressive symptoms, and binge eating, highlighting the role of binge eating as a potential coping mechanism for individuals with high AS, particularly in managing depressive symptoms. This study underscores the importance of AS-targeted intervention and prevention efforts in addressing depressive symptoms and binge eating.
... Given the stable three-factor structure, researchers used the ASI-3 to examine the correlates of domain-specific AS, consistently and incrementally associating the social concerns domain with social anxiety (Allan et al., 2014(Allan et al., , 2018Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012), while associating the physical concerns domain with panic, SAD, specific phobia, and health anxiety (Allan et al., 2014;Fergus & Bardeen, 2013;Fetzner et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012). Lastly, researchers have associated the cognitive concerns subscale with depression and symptoms of GAD, OCD, and PTSD (Allan et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007). ...
... Given the stable three-factor structure, researchers used the ASI-3 to examine the correlates of domain-specific AS, consistently and incrementally associating the social concerns domain with social anxiety (Allan et al., 2014(Allan et al., , 2018Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012), while associating the physical concerns domain with panic, SAD, specific phobia, and health anxiety (Allan et al., 2014;Fergus & Bardeen, 2013;Fetzner et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012). Lastly, researchers have associated the cognitive concerns subscale with depression and symptoms of GAD, OCD, and PTSD (Allan et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007). ...
... Given the stable three-factor structure, researchers used the ASI-3 to examine the correlates of domain-specific AS, consistently and incrementally associating the social concerns domain with social anxiety (Allan et al., 2014(Allan et al., , 2018Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012), while associating the physical concerns domain with panic, SAD, specific phobia, and health anxiety (Allan et al., 2014;Fergus & Bardeen, 2013;Fetzner et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012). Lastly, researchers have associated the cognitive concerns subscale with depression and symptoms of GAD, OCD, and PTSD (Allan et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 2007). ...
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Introduction: The present study examined the psychometric properties of a Greek adaptation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3; Taylor et al., 2007). Method: We translated the ASI-3 following a forward-backward method and then, in addition to measures of anxiety and depression (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995; Lyrakos et al., 2011), we administered it to a nonclinical general population sample (N = 611) recruited online. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a bifactor model with three orthogonal group factors best fit the data, followed by a correlated three-factor model. An examination of the dimensionality of the ASI-3 and the reliability of its dimensions suggested the presence of a reliable, strong AS general factor and comparatively weaker group factors. The ASI-3 appears to measure AS invariantly across gender. We report preliminary evidence for its convergent, discriminant, and divergent validity. Conclusion: The Greek adaption of the ASI-3 revealed adequate psychometric properties. Future studies should explore its criterion-related validity by administering the Greek adaptation of the ASI-3 to clinical samples and explore its relationship to other key constructs of anxiety sensitivity’s nomological network.
... Thibodeau et al. (2012) found a large effect when comparing the ASI-3 total score and SIPS (β = 0.73, t = 6.67, p < .01). However, Olthuis et al. (2014) found a medium effect size (r = .43) between the LSAS and ASI-3 total score, with the ASI-3 Social Concerns and Cognitive Concerns subscales having medium-sized effects with the LSAS (r = .37 ...
... ASI-3 Social Concerns also significantly estimated Social Anxiety Disorder. Olthuis et al. (2014) similarly examined the predictive ability of the ASI-3 factors for anxiety and depressive symptoms. Olthuis et al. (2014) found ASI-3 Cognitive Concerns significantly estimated both depression and social anxiety symptoms, while ASI-3 Social Concerns estimated social anxiety scores. ...
... Olthuis et al. (2014) similarly examined the predictive ability of the ASI-3 factors for anxiety and depressive symptoms. Olthuis et al. (2014) found ASI-3 Cognitive Concerns significantly estimated both depression and social anxiety symptoms, while ASI-3 Social Concerns estimated social anxiety scores. Anxiety and fear about performing in socially acceptable ways in social situations is both a criterion for ASI-3 Social Concerns and Social Anxiety Disorder. ...
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A growing research base supports the separate and distinct role of Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) in the etiology of anxiety disorders. AS is a belief that experiencing anxiety will cause negative consequences cognitively, psychologically, and physically. There is an interest in understanding how well transdiagnostic factors such as Anxiety Sensitivity can identify different anxiety disorders. This study examined the role of anxiety sensitivity as measured by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index- 3 (ASI-3; Taylor et al., 2007) in relation to social anxiety symptoms using two different measures: Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS; Mattick & Clarke, 1989) and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation (BFNE, Leary, 1983). One hundred ninety-eight participants completed self-report measures assessing anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety, positive and negative affect and social anxiety symptoms. Regression analyses results showed that the ASI-3 Social Concerns factor significantly estimated both BFNE and SIAS symptoms. Trait anxiety and positive and negative affect were differentially effective in estimating BFNE and SIAS symptoms. Seven variables accounted for 50% of the variance in self-reported social anxiety symptoms. These findings provide insight into the etiology of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and support the transdiagnostic value and incremental validity of the ASI-3 in predicting social anxiety symptoms.
... ASI-3 has been widely used for measuring anxiety sensitivity globally, including China [27,[50][51][52][53][54][55]. This work examined psychometric properties of this instrument among Chinese college students and found that this scale had a three-factor structure among college students. ...
... In addition, moderate positive association was also seen between ASI-3 and DASS-21, the anxiety subscale in particular, which was in line with previous findings [26]. Furthermore, cognitive concerns subscale had highest correlations with trait anxiety and DASS-21 and its three sub-constructs, which was also in accordance with the widely-recognized close relationship between cognitive anxiety and negative mood, such as depression [19,27,50]. In addition, standardized factor loadings were above recommended threshold, along with different degree of correlation with other external variables, such as DASS-21 (high), STAI-TAI (high) and FCV-19 S (medium), and high AVE values for subscales, and higher square root of AVE than inter-factor correlation, indicating that the C-ASI-3 had adequate criterion-related, convergent, and divergent validity among college students. ...
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Purpose Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to fear of anxiety-related sensory arousal and has been revealed to be associated with increased psychological distress and mental problems. Although Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) has been confirmed to be effective in evaluating this construct, whether it is consistently applicable in college students is still elusive. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of Chinese version of ASI-3 (C-ASI-3) among college students experiencing campus lockdown due to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods A total of 1532 Chinese college students (397, 25.9% males) aged between 16 and 25 were included in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to verify the factor structure of C-ASI-3. Multi-group CFA was conducted for analysis of measurement invariance with regard to gender. McDonald’s omega values were computed for examination of scale reliability. For criterion, convergent, and divergent validity, average variance extracted (AVE) values for C-ASI-3 subscales, difference between square root of AVE for each factor and inter-factor correlation, as well as pearson correlation and partial correlation between the C-ASI-3 and other three scales, including the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) were evaluated. Results The C-ASI-3 presented a three-factor scale structure with fit indices being as follows: χ²/df = 11.590, CFI = 0.938, RMSEA = 0.083, SRMR = 0.042. Strict measurement invariance was reached across gender. Regarding convergent validity, the C-ASI-3 had a high correlation with the DASS-21 (r = 0.597, p < 0.01) and the STAI (r = 0.504, p < 0.01). All AVE values for C-ASI-3 subscales were above 0.5. In terms of divergent validity, the C-ASI-3 had medium correlation with the FCV-19 S (r = 0.360, p < 0.01). Square of root of AVE for each factor was higher that inter-factor correlation. McDonald’s omega values of the three dimensions ranged from 0.898 ~ 0.958. Conclusion The C-ASI-3 has acceptable psychometric properties among college students. College students with different gender have consistent understanding on the scale construct.
... With this in mind, interventions that focus on reducing anxiety sensitivity (e.g. Norr et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014) may have significant implications for improving sexual well-being. Finally, the current findings present the possibility that there may be indirect pathways from anxiety sensitivity to difficulties in sexual well-being by way of anxiety sensitivity's influence on anxiety and depressive symptoms (Naragon-Gainey, 2010;Olatunji & Wolitzky-Taylor, 2009). ...
... Future research should test these indirect pathways to determine if anxiety sensitivity interventions could still help address problems in sexual well-being by reducing anxiety sensitivity and thus by alleviating associated mental health symptoms (e.g. Olthuis et al., 2014). Indeed, such interventions might help address comorbid difficulties with sexual and psychological well-being. ...
... Cognitive concern reflect fear of cognitive dyscontrol, physical concern reflect the fear of physical sensations accompanying anxiety, and social concern reflect the fear that an observable anxiety response will lead to social exclusion (34). Many studies have suggested that physical and cognitive mediate the relationship, but social concern was not found to be a significant mediator (35). Guo et al. (36) found that the mediating effect of social concern on anxiety and attentional control is not significant. ...
... Prior work has suggested that cognitive AS can increase anxiety and depression. Individuals with high cognitive concern believe that their symptoms, such as attentional decline or psychological incompetence will cause individuals to feel more uncomfortable, thus further enhancing negative emotional experience (35). The current research lacks evidence that social concern has mediating effect between negative bias and depression and anxiety. ...
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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to observed increases in reported mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. There is evidence attentional bias is associated with depression and anxiety, and it has been further suggested that anxiety sensitivity has a role in both the development and maintenance of depression and anxiety symptoms. Understanding these relationships may help inform preventative interventions for those at risk of mental health concerns. The present study explores the role of anxiety sensitivity, specifically physical and cognitive concerns, as a potential mediator of the relationship between attentional bias with depression and anxiety symptoms. Method Participants (n = 460) were recruited from the general population in China, and completed an online survey between February and March, 2020 which included the Attention to Positive and Negative Information Scale (APNI), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). After exploring the correlations between the measures, mediation analysis was performed to explore the role of anxiety sensitivity (physical and cognitive subscales) in the relationship between attentional bias and depression and anxiety (as measured by the DASS-21). Results The results indicated that negative attention bias was significantly positively correlated with physical and cognitive concerns, physical and cognitive concerns were significantly positively correlated with depression and anxiety, and negative attention bias was significantly positively correlated with depression and anxiety (all ps < 0.001). Physical and cognitive anxiety sensitivity mediated the relationship between negative attention bias and both anxiety and depression symptoms. Conclusion Negative bias was associated with levels of anxiety and depression, and physical and cognitive anxiety sensitivity mediated associations between negative bias and anxiety and depression symptoms. The study provides theoretical support for intervention and guidance on individual mental health during the pandemic, and helps individuals increase their concern to negative emotions.
... 12 Turkish adaptation of the scale was made by Corapcioglu et al. 13 In a study of 104 subjects diagnosed with PTDS and 65 subjects without PTSD, the internal consistency of the test was calculated as 0.94, and when the cutoff value of the scale was between 24-33, sensitivity was found to be 74.0-92.2% and specificity, 70.7-81.0%. The total IES-R score is evaluated as an indicator of normal (0-23), mild (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), moderate (33)(34)(35)(36) or severe (≥37) psychological effect. ...
... 31 It has been found that in children of divorced families, sensitivity to anxiety was higher, 32 and higher anxiety sensitivity increased susceptibility to mental disorders, such as panic disorder, agoraphobia, PTSD, major depressive disorder, social anxiety and substance abuse. [33][34][35] In the current study, in line with literature, it was determined that children of divorced families were at higher risk of developing PTSD. Although there are studies in literature concerning the reactions of children to traumatic events, there are very few studies which have examined how epidemics affect children. ...
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Objective: To investigate the traumatic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on middle-school students and their parents. Methods: This epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted with middle-school students in Denizli. A questionnaire consisting of the IES-R, CRIES-13 and a sociodemographic data form was delivered online. A total of 1059 participants who fully completed the questionnaire were included for analysis. Results: The IES-R total and subdimension scores and the CRIES-13 scores were found to be significantly higher in families with an income level of ≤2,500 TL. The CRIES-13 scores of children were found to be significantly higher in divorced families. No statistically significant difference was determined between the IES-R total and subdimension scores of the parents who were healthcare workers and the CRIES-13 scale scores of their children. Conclusion: A statistically significant, positive, moderate relationship was found between the IES-R scale total and subdimension scores of parents and the CRIES-13 scale scores of children. A low socioeconomic level was seen to increase the prevalence of anxiety in adults and adolescents. The children of divorced families were found to be at higher risk of PTSD. Successful management of mental health symptoms in parents will reflect positively on the mental health status of their children.
... These two nodes activate PD symptom network via respectively work/home disturbances, and anticipatory anxiety frequency. In addition, the physical concerns node has the highest proximity value, indicating its value as a good predictor of PD symptoms, which is consistent with the results of several studies (Olthuis et al., 2014). ...
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Most theoretical models of panic disorder have emphasized the role of several vulnerability factors in the development of this disorder, such as: neuroticism, low perceived control, trait emotional intelligence, emotion regulation, and anxiety sensitivity. To examine the nature of the relationship between these factors and panic disorder symptoms, we performed a complex network analysis to determine the symptoms and mutually reinforcing patterns that define this disorder. Participants with self-reported panic disorder (n = 326) completed a series of online self-report questionnaires. Node centrality indices, estimation of bridge nodes, and community analysis, were calculated using partial correlation coefficients and glasso regularization. The results revealed that low levels of well-being and the frequency of panic attacks were the most central symptoms of the network, while fear of physical concerns of anxiety sensitivity was a strong predictor of other network symptoms. Moreover, depression and fear of physical concerns represented the bridge nodes that link the vulnerability factors to panic disorder symptoms network. These results suggest that low levels of well-being should be included in the clinical taxonomy and assessment of panic disorder, and can be considered as a therapeutic target in cognitive and behavioral therapy for this disorder.
... Beliefs of negative implications of anxiety experiences (18 items) [68]. Anxiety Sensitivity Index Subjective gender roles (30 items) [69,70]. ...
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Background: Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a substantial burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies for the prevention and treatment of mental disorders requires a better understanding of their risk and resilience factors. This multicenter study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy but susceptible young adults over 9 months. Resilience is conceptualized in this study as the maintenance of mental health or quick recovery from mental health perturbations upon exposure to stressors, assessed longitudinally via frequent monitoring of stressors and mental health. Objective: This study aims to investigate the factors predicting mental resilience and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies. Methods: In a multicenter setting, across 5 research sites, a sample with a total target size of 250 young male and female adults was assessed longitudinally over 9 months. Participants were included if they reported at least 3 past stressful life events and an elevated level of (internalizing) mental health problems but were not presently affected by any mental disorder other than mild depression. At baseline, sociodemographic, psychological, neuropsychological, structural, and functional brain imaging; salivary cortisol and α-amylase levels; and cardiovascular data were acquired. In a 6-month longitudinal phase 1, stressor exposure, mental health problems, and perceived positive appraisal were monitored biweekly in a web-based environment, while ecological momentary assessments and ecological physiological assessments took place once per month for 1 week, using mobile phones and wristbands. In a subsequent 3-month longitudinal phase 2, web-based monitoring was reduced to once a month, and psychological resilience and risk factors were assessed again at the end of the 9-month period. In addition, samples for genetic, epigenetic, and microbiome analyses were collected at baseline and at months 3 and 6. As an approximation of resilience, an individual stressor reactivity score will be calculated. Using regularized regression methods, network modeling, ordinary differential equations, landmarking methods, and neural net–based methods for imputation and dimension reduction, we will identify the predictors and mechanisms of stressor reactivity and thus be able to identify resilience factors and mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to stressors. Results: Participant inclusion began in October 2020, and data acquisition was completed in June 2022. A total of 249 participants were assessed at baseline, 209 finished longitudinal phase 1, and 153 finished longitudinal phase 2. Conclusions: The Dynamic Modelling of Resilience–Observational Study provides a methodological framework and data set to identify predictors and mechanisms of mental resilience, which are intended to serve as an empirical foundation for future intervention studies.
... Global AS has been linked to depression across many studies (e.g., Muris et al., 2001;Otto et al., 1995). Of the three AS components, AS cognitive concerns appear most consistently related to depression (e.g., Allan et al., 2014;Olthuis et al., 2014;Taylor et al., 1996). ...
Article
Cognitive models of insomnia posit a role for anxiety sensitivity (AS) in sleep difficulties. While sleep disturbances have been linked to AS, particularly AS cognitive concerns, prior studies have rarely accounted for the correlated construct of depression. We used pre-treatment intervention trial data from 128 high AS, treatment-seeking adults with a DSM-5 diagnosis of an anxiety, depressive, or posttraumatic stress disorder to determine whether AS cognitive concerns and/or depression are independently associated with sleep impairment domains (e.g., sleep quality, latency, daytime dysfunction). Participants provided data on AS, depressive symptoms, and sleep impairments. AS cognitive concerns (but not other AS dimensions) were correlated with four of five sleep impairment domains; depression was correlated with all five. Multiple regressions revealed four of five sleep impairment domains were predicted by depression with no independent contribution of AS cognitive concerns. In contrast, AS cognitive concerns and depression were independently associated with daytime dysfunction. Results suggest previous findings linking AS cognitive concerns to sleep impairments may have been largely secondary to the overlap of cognitive concerns with depression. Findings demonstrate the importance of incorporating depression into the cognitive model of insomnia. Both AS cognitive concerns and depression may be useful targets for reducing daytime dysfunction.
... SD = 13.5) (Olthuis, Watt, & Stewart, 2014). Finally, our observed mean of 36.4 (SD = 13.3) on the 12-item Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale was comparable to the means found in North Table 5 Relative contribution of DT, AS and IU to current symptom levels after controlling for age, gender, diagnosis, and treatment type. ...
Article
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Aim: A person's ability to tolerate negative emotional states (Distress Tolerance - DT), uncertainty in their everyday lives (Intolerance of Uncertainty - IU), and a tendency to appraise their own feelings of anxiety as harmful (Anxiety Sensitivity - AS) have all been identified as vulnerability factors for anxiety and depressive disorders. However, the relationship between these variables and broader aspects of psychiatric symptom severity in participants recruited from routine care remains unclear. Method: The Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Anxiety Sensitivity Scale-3 (ASI-3), and Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-Short Form (IUS-12) were administered to 91 patients receiving treatment at the Lund Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic. Data was collected from their medical records about their psychiatric history and scores on the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). The relationship between total scores on the DTS, ASI-3, IUS-12 and BSI were evaluated via correlations and regression analyses. Results: DTS, ASI-3, and IUS-12 total scores correlated in the moderate to large range, and consistent with previous literature, were moderately to strongly correlated with the severity of self-reported depression, anxiety and overall symptoms (BSI). Regression analyses indicated that together, scores on the DTS, ASI-3 and IUS-12 explained moderate levels of variance in BSI symptom scores, with DTS scores showing the strongest associations. These findings suggest that further studies are needed to examine the construct and criterion validity of the three scales. Further validation of these Swedish-language are also warranted.
... Umumnya gejala somatic sensoric ini dapat berupa masalah-masalah pada sistem indra misalnya telinga berdengung, pandangan kabur, dan sensasi tertusuk-tusuk pada area permukaan kulit. Gejala-gejala tersebut baru akan muncul apabila seseorang tersebut mengalami ketakutan/kecemasan dan atau mengalami sensasi terkait fisik yang dianggap berbahaya bagi tubuh (Olthuis et al., 2014;Sandin et al., 2015). ...
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Vaccination is one of the recommended way to eradicate Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, there are still many people who refuse to get vaccinated. One of the causes is anxiety about the side effects that occur after vaccination. With this misinformation about vaccines, public anxiety is getting higher, so that more and more people are hesitant to get vaccinated. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of anxiety related to vaccines in medical students who have more knowledge about vaccines than the general public society. The anxiety assessment method used was the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HARS) questionnaire. There were 108 medical clerkship students in this study, consisting of 25 male respondents and 83 female respondents, aged between 21-27 years. Based on the HARS-score obtained, it showed that all respondents were in the low or minimal anxiety range. Aspects of anxiety predominately appeared in the pre-vaccination phase. The differences between men and women were influenced by hormonal fluctuations and conditions before vaccination, such as stress, workload, knowledge capacity, and information obtained related to vaccination. Keywords: Anxiety, Covid-19, HARS-score, ISRR, Vaccines
... Umumnya gejala somatic sensoric ini dapat berupa masalah-masalah pada sistem indra misalnya telinga berdengung, pandangan kabur, dan sensasi tertusuk-tusuk pada area permukaan kulit. Gejala-gejala tersebut baru akan muncul apabila seseorang tersebut mengalami ketakutan/kecemasan dan atau mengalami sensasi terkait fisik yang dianggap berbahaya bagi tubuh (Olthuis et al., 2014;Sandin et al., 2015). ...
... Our aim in deviating from previous research that recruited based on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index was to specifically recruit participants who reported a medium level of fear of bodily symptoms instead of general anxiety sensitivity, as we considered this fear to be more specific to panic and thus our training. This was based on evidence that only anxiety sensitivity in relation to body symptoms was specifically associated with panic, while other dimensions (i.e., social or cognitive concerns) were related to broader psychopathology (Olthuis et al., 2014). However, our exploratory results that the BSQ was neither associated with the ERT nor with panic-related symptoms at pre-training question the relevance of this measure in the current study context. ...
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Background Interpretation biases (IBs) are central in panic disorder, and there is rich evidence showing that these are correlated with and predictive of panic-relevant symptomatology. However, experimental studies are needed to examine the potential causal effects of IBs, as predicted by cognitive models. Methods Panic-related IBs were manipulated via a sentence-completion Cognitive Bias Modification-Interpretation (CBM-I) training. The sample included N = 112 healthy participants reporting moderate levels of fear of bodily sensations. Participants were randomly allocated to a positive, negative, or control CBM-I condition. To test the trainings’ effect on panic-relevant cognitive processing, IBs were assessed via proximal and distal measures. Symptom provocation tasks were applied to test transfer to panic-relevant symptomatology. Results Results on the proximal measure showed that positive CBM-I led to more positive IBs compared to negative, and control training. Further, positive CBM-I led to more positive IBs on the distal measure as compared to negative CBM-I. However, there were no differential training effects on panic-related symptomatology triggered via the provocation tasks. Conclusion The findings indicate a limited generalization of the effects of CBM-I on IBs and panic-related symptoms. Potential means to improve generalization, such as applying more nuanced measures and combining CBM-I with psychoeducation are discussed.
... Beliefs of negative implications of anxiety experiences, 18 items[65]. ...
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Background Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a substantial burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies for the prevention and treatment of mental disorders requires a better understanding of their risk and resilience factors. This multicenter study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy but susceptible young adults over 9 months. Resilience is conceptualized in this study as the maintenance of mental health or quick recovery from mental health perturbations upon exposure to stressors, assessed longitudinally via frequent monitoring of stressors and mental health. Objective This study aims to investigate the factors predicting mental resilience and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies. Methods In a multicenter setting, across 5 research sites, a sample with a total target size of 250 young male and female adults was assessed longitudinally over 9 months. Participants were included if they reported at least 3 past stressful life events and an elevated level of (internalizing) mental health problems but were not presently affected by any mental disorder other than mild depression. At baseline, sociodemographic, psychological, neuropsychological, structural, and functional brain imaging; salivary cortisol and α-amylase levels; and cardiovascular data were acquired. In a 6-month longitudinal phase 1, stressor exposure, mental health problems, and perceived positive appraisal were monitored biweekly in a web-based environment, while ecological momentary assessments and ecological physiological assessments took place once per month for 1 week, using mobile phones and wristbands. In a subsequent 3-month longitudinal phase 2, web-based monitoring was reduced to once a month, and psychological resilience and risk factors were assessed again at the end of the 9-month period. In addition, samples for genetic, epigenetic, and microbiome analyses were collected at baseline and at months 3 and 6. As an approximation of resilience, an individual stressor reactivity score will be calculated. Using regularized regression methods, network modeling, ordinary differential equations, landmarking methods, and neural net–based methods for imputation and dimension reduction, we will identify the predictors and mechanisms of stressor reactivity and thus be able to identify resilience factors and mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to stressors. Results Participant inclusion began in October 2020, and data acquisition was completed in June 2022. A total of 249 participants were assessed at baseline, 209 finished longitudinal phase 1, and 153 finished longitudinal phase 2. Conclusions The Dynamic Modelling of Resilience–Observational Study provides a methodological framework and data set to identify predictors and mechanisms of mental resilience, which are intended to serve as an empirical foundation for future intervention studies. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/39817
... The ASI-3 shows good internal consistency and factorial validity, as well as good convergent and discriminant validity (Taylor et al., 2007). ASI-3 subscales show the expected correlational patterns with relevant symptoms; for example, the social subscale is highly correlated with social interaction anxiety whereas the cognitive subscale is highly correlated with measures of worry and depression (Olthuis et al., 2014;Wheaton et al., 2012). Items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale based on participant agreement with each item (1 = "very little" to 5 = "very much"). ...
Article
Background and objectives Affective forecasting (AF) is the prediction of future emotional states. Negatively biased affective forecasts (i.e., overestimating negative affect) have been associated with trait anxiety, social anxiety, and depression symptoms, but few studies have tested these relationships while covarying commonly co-occurring symptoms. Methods In this study, participants (N = 114) completed a computer game in dyads. Participants were randomized into one of two conditions: a condition in which they were led to believe they were at-fault for losing their dyad money (n = 24 dyads) or a condition in which they were told no one was at fault (n = 34 dyads). Prior to the computer game, participants forecasted their affect for each potential game outcome. Results More severe social anxiety, trait-level anxiety, and depressive symptoms were all associated with more negative AF bias in the at-fault relative to the no-fault condition, and this effect persisted when controlling for other symptoms. Cognitive and social anxiety sensitivity was also associated with more negative AF bias. Limitations The generalizability of our findings is innately limited by our non-clinical, undergraduate sample. Future work should replicate and extend our research in more diverse populations and clinical samples. Conclusions Overall, our results support that AF biases are observed across a range of psychopathology symptoms and associated with transdiagnostic cognitive risk factors. Future work should continue investigating the etiological role of AF bias in psychopathology.
... Our aim in deviating from previous research that recruited based on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index was to specifically recruit participants who reported a medium level of fear of bodily symptoms instead of general anxiety sensitivity, as we considered this fear to be more specific to panic and thus our training. This was based on evidence that only anxiety sensitivity in relation to body symptoms was specifically associated with panic, while other dimensions (i.e., social or cognitive concerns) were related to broader psychopathology (Olthuis et al., 2014). However, our exploratory results that the BSQ was neither associated with the ERT nor with panic-related symptoms at pre-training question the relevance of this measure in the current study context. ...
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Background: Interpretation biases (IBs) are central in panic disorder (PD), and there is a great body of evidence showing that these are correlated with and predictive of panic-relevant symptomatology. However, experimental studies are needed to examine the potential causal effects of IBs on symptoms of PD predicted by cognitive models.Methods: Panic-related IBs were manipulated via a Cognitive Bias Modification-Interpretation (CBM-I) training. The sample included N=112 participants reporting moderate levels of fear of bodily sensations. Participants were randomly allocated to a positive, negative, or control CBM-I condition. To test the trainings’ effect on panic-relevant cognitive processing, IBs were assessed via proximal and distal measures. Symptom provocation tasks were applied to test transfer to panic-relevant symptomatology.Results: Results on the proximal measure showed that positive CBM-I led to more positive IBs compared to negative, and control training. Further, positive CBM-I led to more positive IBs on the distal measure as compared to negative CBM-I. However, there were no differential training effects on panic-related symptomatology triggered via the provocation tasks.Conclusions: The findings indicate that further research on the generalization of CBM-I on both IBs and panic-related symptoms is necessary to improve the applicability as a means to experimentally test causal hypotheses.
... The AS cognitive concerns was especially associated with depression (Allan, Cooper, Oglesby, Short, Saulnier & Schmidt, 2018;Naragon-Gainey, 2010). Among the three dimensions of AS, cognitive concerns could predict unique variance of depressive symptoms (Olthuis, Watt & Stewart, 2014). A few studies also demonstrated the importance of physical concerns in predicting depressive symptoms. ...
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The benefits of mindfulness‐based interventions to alleviate anxiety and depression have been supported by many studies. Given the effectiveness of mindfulness‐based interventions on anxiety and depression, the underlying mechanisms need to be explored. Using a randomized waitlist‐controlled design, this study investigated whether anxiety sensitivity was a potential mechanism for the impact of mindfulness training on anxiety and depression. Participants with high psychological distress were randomly assigned to an eight‐week mindfulness intervention (N = 35) or a wait‐list control group (N = 34). Before and after the intervention or corresponding waitlist period, participants completed measures of anxiety and depression severity and impairment and anxiety sensitivity. Separate mixed ANOVA demonstrated significant group (intervention vs. control group) × time (pre‐ vs. post‐test) interactions for anxiety sensitivity and overall anxiety severity and impairment and marginally significant interaction for overall depression severity and impairment. Moreover, simple mediation models showed that reductions of anxiety sensitivity from pre‐ to post‐test mediated the impact of mindfulness training on changes in anxiety and depression severity and impairment. The findings suggest that anxiety sensitivity is a potential mechanism underlying the effect of mindfulness training on anxiety and depression, which provides a new perspective for the study of processes of change of mindfulness‐based interventions.
... In addition to RNT, another 'general' transdiagnostic cognitive risk factor is anxiety sensitivity, a higher-order latent construct that reflects the tendency to interpret physiological arousal as having catastrophic consequences (Reiss, 1991). Anxiety sensitivity is critical in predicting the development and maintenance of a range of disorders, including panic disorder (Rodriguez et al., 2004), social anxiety disorder (Ball et al., 1995;Norton et al., 1997), generalized anxiety disorder (Deacon & Abramowitz, 2006), eating disorders (Anestis et al., 2008), depression (Olthuis et al., 2014), and suicidality (Stanley et al., 2018). Like RNT, anxiety sensitivity manifests in three unique content-specific subdomains or facets (Rodriguez et al., 2004). ...
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Cognitive risk factors are key in the vulnerability for internalizing disorders. Cognitive risk factors modulate the way individuals process information from the environment which in turn impacts the day-to-day affective experience. In 296 young adults, we assessed two transdiagnostic, general risk factors-repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and anxiety sensitivity in a high-RNT subsample (N = 119). We also assessed disorderand content-specific risk factors including worry, rumination, and three facets of anxiety sensitivity (cognitive, social, physical). To determine the day-to-day affective experience, we used cell-phone-based ecological momentary assessment to assess the mean and variability of positive and negative affect (PA; NA) over 3-4 months. Two multilevel multivariate Bayesian models were used to predict PA and NA mean and variability from (1) general and (2) specific cognitive risk factors. Mean NA was a nonspecific correlate of cognitive risk across both models, while mean PA was most strongly related to RNT and rumination. NA variability was most strongly related to RNT, rumination, and the physiological facet of anxiety sensitivity. PA variability was a specific correlate of RNT. Results highlight that cognitive risk factors for internalizing disorders manifest in unique patterns of day-to-day emotional experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... Beliefs of negative implications of anxiety experiences, 18 items [82]. ...
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BACKGROUND Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies of their treatment and prevention requires knowledge about risk and resilience. This multi-center study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy, but vulnerable young adults over nine months. Resilience is operationalized as maintained or quickly recovered mental health despite exposure to stressors and assessed longitudinally in a frequent monitoring approach. OBJECTIVE We aim to investigate factors predicting, and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience, and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies. METHODS In a multi-center setting, across five research sites, a sample with the total target size of N=250 male and female young adults is assessed longitudinally over nine months. Participants are included if they had an elevated level of (internalizing) mental health problems and reported at least three stressful life events while not affected by any mental disorder other than mild depression. At baseline, sociodemographic, psychological, neuropsychological, structural and functional brain imaging data, salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase, as well as cardiovascular data are acquired. In a six-months longitudinal phase I, bi-weekly online monitoring of stressor exposure, mental health problems, and positive appraisal style takes place, as well as monthly one-week ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and ecological physiological assessments (EPA). In a subsequent three-months longitudinal phase II, online monitoring is reduced to once a month and psychological resilience and risk factors are assessed again at the end of the nine-month period. In addition, genetic, epigenetic, and microbiome data are assessed at baseline, month three (microbiome only), and month six. As an approximation of resilience, an individual stressor reactivity (SR) score will be calculated. Using regularized regression methods, network modeling, ordinary differential equations, landmarking methods, and neural net-based methods for imputation and dimension reduction, we will identify predictors and mechanisms of SR and thus be able to identify resilience factors and mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to stressors. RESULTS Participant inclusion started in October 2020 and data acquisition is expected to be completed in June 2022. CONCLUSIONS The DynaM-OBS study provides a methodological framework and dataset to identify predictors and mechanisms of mental resilience, which are intended to serve as an empirical foundation for future intervention studies.
... Anxiety sensitivity negatively moderated the EA-anxiety and EAdepressive symptom correlations, such that higher anxiety sensitivity was related to weaker correlations. Given the positive relationship anxiety sensitivity has with EA (Epkins, 2016) and anxiety and depressive symptoms (Hovenkamp-Hermelink et al., 2019;Olthuis et al., 2014), this moderation effect is surprising. One possible explanation is that general EA measures may not adequately assess avoidance of somatic cues, which is particularly relevant among those with high anxiety sensitivity. ...
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Although numerous studies on experiential avoidance and its relationship to psychopathology have been conducted, systematic summaries of this research are lacking. The current systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the transdiagnostic role of experiential avoidance across depression, anxiety and related disorders (obsessive-compulsive and related disorders [OCRDs] and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) as well as potential moderators of these relations. A total of 441 eligible studies including 135,347 participants (66.16% female, mean age = 31.53) and 899 effect-sizes were summarized. Results indicated a moderate-to-large association of experiential avoidance with anxiety (r = .506) and depressive symptoms (r = .562), major depressive disorder (r = .453), worry (r = .516), generalized anxiety disorder (r = .588), social anxiety disorder (r = .461), panic and agoraphobia (r = .340), specific phobias (r = .431), OCRDs (r = .406), and PTSD (r = .489). Anxiety sensitivity moderated the relationship of experiential avoidance to anxiety and depression. Moreover, depression moderated the relationship of experiential avoidance to generalized anxiety disorder and OCRDs. Correlations varied by mean experiential avoidance value, suggesting a potentially nonlinear relationship of experiential avoidance to psychological symptoms. Other potential moderators including type of population, type of measure, comorbidity, and clinical status were investigated. Results support the hypothesized role of experiential avoidance as a transdiagnostic and transcultural process relevant to depression, anxiety, OCRDs, and PTSD. However, experiential avoidance has largely been measured as a generalized trait; future research would be enhanced by measuring experiential avoidance as a dynamic and contextualized process.
... Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) Beliefs of negative implications of anxiety experiences, 18 items [82]. ...
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Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies of their treatment and prevention requires knowledge about risk and resilience. This multi-center study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy, but vulnerable young adults over nine months. Resilience is operationalized as maintained or quickly recovered mental health despite exposure to stressors and assessed longitudinally in a frequent monitoring approach. We aim to investigate factors predicting, and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience, and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies.In a multi-center setting, across five research sites, a sample with the total target size of N=250 male and female young adults is assessed longitudinally over nine months. Participants are included if they had an elevated level of (internalizing) mental health problems and reported at least three stressful life events while not affected by any mental disorder other than mild depression. At baseline, sociodemographic, psychological, neuropsychological, structural and functional brain imaging data, and salivary cortisol are acquired. In a six-months longitudinal phase I, bi-weekly online monitoring of stressor exposure, mental health problems, and positive appraisal style takes place, as well as monthly one-week ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and ecological physiological assessments (EPA). In a subsequent three-months longitudinal phase II, online monitoring is reduced to once a month and psychological resilience and risk factors are assessed again at the end of the nine-month period. In addition, genetic, epigenetic, and microbiome data are assessed at baseline, month three (microbiome only), and month six.As an approximation of resilience, an individual stressor reactivity (SR) score will be calculated. Using regularized regression methods, network modeling, ordinary differential equations, landmarking methods, and neural net-based methods for imputation and dimension reduction, we will identify predictors and mechanisms of SR and thus be able to identify resilience factors and mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to stressors.The DynaM-OBS study provides a methodological framework and dataset to identify predictors and mechanisms of mental resilience, which are intended to serve as an empirical foundation for future intervention studies.
... Although both brooding rumination and anxiety sensitivity are involved in the development of emotional symptoms, they are usually studied separately (Olatunji et al., 2013;Olthuis et al., 2014), so that the examination of their specifi c relations concurrently with depressive and anxiety symptomatology remains scarce. For instance, Epkins et al. (2013) examined the independent, combined, and specifi c relationships of rumination and anxiety sensitivity with depression and anxiety symptoms in a sample of preadolescent girls, fi nding that both factors were overlapping but were still independent vulnerabilities both for depression and anxiety. ...
Article
Background: This study explores the shared and specific associations of brooding rumination and anxiety sensitivity to depression and anxiety symptomatology in a sample of treatment-seeking smokers. Methods: The sample was composed of 275 treatment-seeking adult smokers. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the relations of both variables with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results: Greater brooding rumination and anxiety sensitivity predicted higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. A specific relationship emerged after controlling for comorbid symptoms (depressive or anxiety symptoms) where brooding rumination was associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety sensitivity with anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: The findings showed that the variables examined are transdiagnostically related to emotional symptoms, but this relationship was symptomatology-specific when controlling for comorbid symptoms (depressive or anxiety symptoms). Due to the impact of affective symptoms on abstinence outcomes, these findings have relevant clinical implications. In the context of smoking cessation treatment, identifying shared and specific vulnerabilities might contribute to tailoring and designing more precise and effective interventions for quitting smoking.
... Importantly, we found that concerns related to the cognitive, physical, and social aspects of anxious responding each play a significant role in the link between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms, with the largest effects found for cognitive concerns. These results are consistent with previous research suggesting unique relevance of cognitive (versus physical or social) concerns of anxiety sensitivity in PTSD symptoms and mood dysfunction (Olthuis, Watt, & Stewart, 2014). This pattern of responding is similar to prior findings that indicate an underlying role of anxiety sensitivity in the relation between negative emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms , specifically highlighting the indirect effect of cognitive concerns in this relation (Bakhshaie et al., 2015). ...
Article
Objective Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are prevalent and deleterious among individuals who have experienced a sexual assault. Although an emerging field of research has established a link between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms, there is a limited understanding of mechanisms underlying this relation. Individuals who have experienced a sexual assault may begin to fear any arousal-related sensations via stimulus generalization, including that associated with positive emotions, which, in turn, may amplify PTSD symptoms. Thus, the current study examined the role of anxiety sensitivity in the association between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms. Methods A sample of 500 community members reporting a history of sexual assault (Mage=34.54, 54.4% male, 79.0% white) completed measures of positive emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, and PTSD symptoms. Results Findings detected a significant indirect effect of anxiety sensitivity in the relation between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms (β=0.28, SE=0.03, 95% CI [0.22, 0.34]). Supplementary analyses revealed that effects held for subscales of anxiety sensitivity (i.e., cognitive, physical, social concerns) and PTSD symptom clusters (i.e., intrusions, avoidance, negative alternations in cognitions and mood, alternations in arousal and reactivity). Conclusions This study offers preliminary empirical support for the assertion that fear of arousal-related sensations associated with positive emotions may partially explain the link between positive emotion dysregulation and PTSD symptoms among those who have experienced a sexual assault. Information from this study could advance future research and treatment.
... This result coincides with those of the extant literature (Cai et al., 2018;Maack et al., 2018;Toth & Joki c-Begi c, 2020). Besides, as in other studies, the correlation between cognitive anxiety, one of the subscales of ASI-3, and DASS-21 total score was found to be higher (Melli et al., 2018;Olthuis et al., 2014). Thus, it can be said that there is sufficient evidence for the convergent validity of the ASI-3. ...
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The purpose of the current study was to investigate the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) in a Turkey sample and to determine measurement invariance of the ASI-3 across gender and age groups. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on four different models to determine the best fit model for the structure. After the best structure was determined, different models were tested for measurement invariance across gender and age groups. To determine the reliability of the ASI-3, the hierarchical omega coefficient and correlations between the scores obtained from different scales for convergent validity were calculated. It has been determined that the bifactor model is the model that best fits the data, and this model shows invariance across gender and age groups. Besides, evidence regarding the reliability and convergent validity of the ASI-3 was also provided in the study. Current findings show that anxiety sensitivity consists of a general factor (anxiety sensitivity) and three independent specific factors (physical, cognitive, and social concerns). It was concluded that the general factor of anxiety sensitivity constitutes a dominant factor and special factors have a relatively low effect on explaining the structure. Considering the dominance of the general factor, it is recommended to use the ASI-3 total score as a measure of general anxiety sensitivity.
... Despite the above limitations, our work still expands the findings of existing research. Previous studies have only found the specific relation between anxiety sensitivity cognitive concern and depression, generalized anxiety disorder, suicide and PTSD,but the mediating effects of rumination were seldom discussed (Allan et al., 2014;Brown et al., 2014;Oglesby et al., 2015;Olatunji & Wolitzky-Taylor, 2009;Olthuis et al., 2014;Saulnier et al., 2018). ...
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The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a major impact on productivity and life functioning, and also led to adverse emotional reactions. In the face of this public health event, increased anxiety is one of the most common emotional reactions. Previous studies have shown that anxiety sensitivity, rumination and anxiety are closely related. Various dimensions of anxiety sensitivity have different effects on anxiety. Also, rumination can be divided into brooding and reflection. To explore the relationships among anxiety sensitivity’s cognitive concerns, anxiety and different types of rumination, we conducted an online survey during the outbreak of coronavirus (February 17–25, 2020), using the Anxiety Sensitivity Scale-3 (ASI-3), Ruminative Responses Scale (RSS), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). The results showed significant positive correlations among anxiety sensitivity’s cognitive concerns, anxiety, brooding and reflection. Furthermore, brooding and reflection had a chain mediation effect between cognitive concerns and anxiety, and the mediation effect of reflection was even stronger. Results suggest that anxiety sensitivity’s cognitive concerns may not only affect anxiety directly, but also affect anxiety through rumination, especially reflection.
... Our results can have relevant clinical implications since AS plays an important role in the onset and the maintenance of several anxiety disorders (Calamari et al., 2008;Norton et al., 1997;Olthuis et al., 2014;White et al., 2006). In a recent neurofunctional interpretative model accounting for the frequent co-occurrence of autism and affective disorders, Burrows et al. (2017) suggested that difficulties with flexible switching of attention in response to distressing events, as well as heightened self-focused attention, can jointly predict increased tendency of perseverating on negative information about oneself, as in worry and rumination (McEvoy et al., 2010). ...
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Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is implicated in the development and maintenance of several psychopathological conditions. Non-clinical individuals with high autistic traits may develop anxiety disorders and depressive symptoms. Here, we investigated the relationships of autistic traits with AS dimensions and depression, considering sex. We referred to the two-factor model of the autism spectrum quotient to distinguish social and non-social autistic traits and assessed 345 university students on AS and depression scales. Results showed that only social autistic traits predicted general AS and anxiety-related concerns regarding social and cognitive domains. The present results emphasize the need of assessing multiple domains of anxiety in individuals on the autistic spectrum, differentiating social and non-social traits.
... Factor analytic studies support using three subscales that index physical (PC), cognitive (CC), and social (SC) concerns associated with fear sensations (Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton, Deacon, McGrath, Berman, & Abramowitz, 2012). The subscales exhibit strong convergent and discriminant validity (Olthuis, Watt, & Stewart, 2014). All three subscales are elevated among individuals with anxiety disorders relative to healthy controls, especially among individuals with disorders with overlapping core features (Taylor et al., 2007;Wheaton et al., 2012). ...
Article
Individuals with dental anxiety show biased attentional processing of threat- and dental-related information. Disgust sensitivity and anxiety sensitivity are both associated with dental fears and attentional biases. Whereas disgust sensitivity is generally associated with attentional avoidance (Armstrong et al., 2014), anxiety sensitivity may be associated with attentional engagement (Keogh et al., 2001a). Elucidating the role of these constructs in dental anxiety-relevant attentional biases could inform theoretical models and/or intervention recommendations. Participants (N = 51) with high dental anxiety completed a Posner paradigm to assess attentional biases to dental versus neutral stimuli. We examined whether disgust sensitivity and anxiety sensitivity moderated degree of attentional bias. Results indicated that both disgust sensitivity (mutilation subscale) and anxiety sensitivity (physical concerns subscale) statistically moderated degree of attentional bias at trend level, and in opposite directions. Simple effects analyses further indicated that disgust sensitivity regarding mutilation was associated with less attentional bias toward dental relative to neutral stimuli, potentially indicating attentional avoidance, and remained so when adjusting for anxiety sensitivity. In contrast, simple effects analysis indicated that anxiety sensitivity regarding physical concerns was not associated with magnitude of attentional bias. If replicated, findings highlight the potential role of disgust in dental anxiety.
... The mental incapacitation concerns (or psychological) subscale measures a person's fear of certain cognitive symptoms, such as lack of concentration, and emotional symptoms such as nervousness. That refers to concerns related to mental manifestations of anxiety (e.g., "When I am nervous, I worry that I might be mentally ill") [37]. The person with high scores fears that these problems are indicative of a serious mental or physical illness. ...
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Aim of the study Two important diseases related to Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Condition (PFAMC) are Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD). Relation between PFAMC and new psychological factors is still unknown. The present study aimed to compare anxiety sensitivity (AS) and metacognition beliefs in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders, coronary heart diseases and healthy individuals in Isfahan, Iran. Subject or material and methods This case-control study was conducted on 50 patients with IBS and 50 patients with CHD who diagnosed by cardiologists and gastroenterologists and 50 healthy individuals were matched by the same demographic variables (Gender, Education level, Marital status, Occupational status). The data collection tools consisted of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and Metacognition Questionnaire- 30 items (MCQ-30). The data were analyzed using Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Results The results showed CHD group has more significant physical concerns and mental incapacitation concerns compare to IBS and control groups. It means CHD patients have more fear of physical symptoms related to anxiety (such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, trembling and feeling faint) and physical symptoms related to anxiety (such as lack of concentration and nervousness). Also IBS group has significantly higher positive metacognitive beliefs than CHD and control groups. Discussion The results showed that AS and metacognitive beliefs about worry play a crucial role in PFAMC such as IBS and CHD. Hence, the management of AS and metacognitive beliefs by clinicians in the treatment of these disorders is recommended. Conclusions Management of AS and metacognitive beliefs by clinicians in the treatment of PFAMCdisorders is important.
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Le présent article résume notre programme de recherche sur la sensibilité à l’anxiété (SA) – un facteur dispositionnel cognitif et affectif impliquant des craintes de sensations liées à l’anxiété en raison de croyances selon lesquelles ces sensations entraînent des conséquences catastrophiques. La SA et ses dimensions d’ordre inférieur sont considérées comme des facteurs transdiagnostiques de risque ou de maintien des troubles émotionnels et des troubles addictifs. La compréhension des mécanismes par lesquels la SA exerce ses effets peut révéler des cibles d’intervention clés pour les programmes de prévention et de traitement axés sur la SA. Dans le présent article, je passe en revue les recherches fondamentales que nous avons menées pour comprendre les mécanismes qui relient la SA à ces troubles et à leurs symptômes. Je décris également les interventions transdiagnostiques ciblées sur la SA et j’illustre la manière dont la recherche fondamentale a permis d’orienter le contenu de ces interventions. Enfin, je passe en revue les projets en cours dans mon laboratoire et je souligne les orientations futures importantes dans ce domaine. Bien que des progrès considérables aient été réalisés au cours des trois dernières décennies et que la recherche ait considérablement fait avancer notre compréhension de la SA en tant que facteur transdiagnostique, de nombreuses questions restent en suspens. Les réponses devraient nous aider à affiner les interventions afin d’en faire bénéficier au maximum les personnes qui ont une grande peur d’avoir peur.
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To meaningfully use the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) with athletes, measurement invariance must be established. Thus, we sought to determine appropriate factor structures for the ASI-3 in an athlete sample, assess measurement invariance between an athlete sample and a less active sample, and compare ASI-3 scores between these groups. Two university student samples were recruited: an athlete sample ( n = 216) and a less active control sample ( n = 321). Results supported bifactor and hierarchical factor structures for the ASI-3 overall and in the athlete sample. Measurement invariance of these factor structures was established. ASI-3 score comparisons indicated that the athlete sample had significantly lower levels of global anxiety sensitivity, and lower physical and social concerns. Results support the use of the ASI-3 to address mental health concerns in athletes and permit meaningful comparisons between athletes and nonathletes using the ASI-3 and its subscales.
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The role of psychological factors in the pathophysiology and treatment of chronic visceral pain in disorders of gut-brain interactions (DGBI) is increasingly appreciated. Placebo research has underscored that expectations arising from the psychosocial treatment context and from prior experiences shape treatment responses. However, effects of negative expectations, i.e., nocebo effects, as they are likely crucial elements of DGBI patients’ clinical reality, have thus far only rarely been investigated in the context of visceral pain, with untapped potential for improved prevention and treatment. The experimental randomized-controlled pain study “NoVis,” carried out within the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 289 (“Treatment Expectation”), aims to close gaps regarding the generation and persistence of nocebo effects in healthy volunteers. It is designed to elucidate effects of negative expectations in a multiple-threat paradigm with intensity-matched rectal distensions and cutaneous thermal stimuli, allowing to test nocebo effects in the visceral and somatic pain modalities. Negative expectations are experimentally induced by elements of doctor-patient communication (i.e., instruction) and/or by surreptitious amplification of symptom intensity (i.e., experience/learning) within a treatment context. Accordingly, the repeated measures between-subject design contains the between-group factors “treatment instruction” (negative vs. control) and “treatment experience” (negative vs. control), with volunteers randomized into four experimental groups undergoing several pain stimulation phases (repeated factor). This allows to compare the efficacy of instruction vs. experience, and more importantly, their combined effects on the magnitude of negative expectations and their impact on pain responses, which we expect will be greatest for the visceral modality. After a Baseline, short-term effects are assessed during a test phase accomplished on study day 1 (Test-1 Phase). To explore the persistence of effects, a second test phase is accomplished 1 week later (Test-2 Phase). Effects of negative expectations within and across pain modalities are assessed at the subjective and objective levels, with a focus on psychophysiological and neuroendocrine measures related to stress, fear, and anxiety. Since nocebo effects can play a considerable role in the generation, maintenance, or worsening of chronic visceral pain, and may even constitute risk factors for treatment failure, knowledge from experimental nocebo research has potential to improve treatment outcomes in DGBI and other clinical conditions associated with chronic visceral pain.
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Background Stress-related disorders such as anxiety and depression are highly prevalent and cause a tremendous burden for affected individuals and society. In order to improve prevention strategies, knowledge regarding resilience mechanisms and ways to boost them is highly needed. In the Dynamic Modelling of Resilience – interventional multicenter study (DynaM-INT), we will conduct a large-scale feasibility and preliminary efficacy test for two mobile- and wearable-based just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs), designed to target putative resilience mechanisms. Deep participant phenotyping at baseline serves to identify individual predictors for intervention success in terms of target engagement and stress resilience. Methods DynaM-INT aims to recruit N = 250 healthy but vulnerable young adults in the transition phase between adolescence and adulthood (18–27 years) across five research sites (Berlin, Mainz, Nijmegen, Tel Aviv, and Warsaw). Participants are included if they report at least three negative burdensome past life events and show increased levels of internalizing symptoms while not being affected by any major mental disorder. Participants are characterized in a multimodal baseline phase, which includes neuropsychological tests, neuroimaging, bio-samples, sociodemographic and psychological questionnaires, a video-recorded interview, as well as ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and ecological physiological assessments (EPA). Subsequently, participants are randomly assigned to one of two ecological momentary interventions (EMIs), targeting either positive cognitive reappraisal or reward sensitivity. During the following intervention phase, participants' stress responses are tracked using EMA and EPA, and JITAIs are triggered if an individually calibrated stress threshold is crossed. In a three-month-long follow-up phase, parts of the baseline characterization phase are repeated. Throughout the entire study, stressor exposure and mental health are regularly monitored to calculate stressor reactivity as a proxy for outcome resilience. The online monitoring questionnaires and the repetition of the baseline questionnaires also serve to assess target engagement. Discussion The DynaM-INT study intends to advance the field of resilience research by feasibility-testing two new mechanistically targeted JITAIs that aim at increasing individual stress resilience and identifying predictors for successful intervention response. Determining these predictors is an important step toward future randomized controlled trials to establish the efficacy of these interventions.
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Though anxiety sensitivity (AS)—fear of anxiety-related experiences—is primarily tied to anxiety vulnerability, AS has also been prospectively associated with general negative affect and depression. Furthermore, depression has been longitudinally associated with different forms of substance use, and some AS subfactors (e.g., cognitive concerns) have been associated more consistently with depression and substance use than others. However, no previous study has investigated if longitudinal associations of AS with substance use may be mediated by depression or whether aspects of AS may be prospectively associated with substance use among adolescents. Hence, the present study tested depressive affect (the negative affective aspect of depression) as a prospective mediator of AS associations with substance use and examined longitudinal AS subfactor associations with substance use and problems. High school 9th graders (N = 2,877; Mage = 14.1 years; 55.3% female) completed self-report measures at baseline and at 6 months and 1 year later. Depressive affect mediated AS associations with subsequent alcohol, cigarette, electronic cigarette, cannabis, benzodiazepine, and opioid use. Also, AS cognitive and social concerns (vs. physical concerns) were more consistently associated with later depressive affect and substance use and problems. Current findings suggest that adolescents high in anxiety sensitivity tend to prospectively experience greater depressive affect, which in turn is related to a higher likelihood of engaging in several different forms of substance use. Thus, it is possible that interventions which target AS (particularly AS cognitive concerns) may help to treat or prevent depression and substance use among adolescents.
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A widely shared framework suggests that anxiety maps onto two dimensions: anxious apprehension and anxious arousal. Previous research linked individual differences in these dimensions to differential neural response patterns in neuropsychological, imaging, and physiological studies. Differential effects of the anxiety dimensions might contribute to inconsistencies in prior studies that examined neural processes underlying anxiety, such as hypersensitivity to unpredictable threat. We investigated the association between trait worry (as a key component of anxious apprehension), anxious arousal, and the neural processing of anticipated threat. From a large online community sample (N = 1,603), we invited 136 participants with converging and diverging worry and anxious arousal profiles into the laboratory. Participants underwent the NPU-threat test with alternating phases of unpredictable threat, predictable threat, and safety, while physiological responses (startle reflex and startle probe locked event-related potential components N1 and P3) were recorded. Worry was associated with increased startle responses to unpredictable threat and increased attentional allocation (P3) to startle probes in predictable threat anticipation. Anxious arousal was associated with increased startle and N1 in unpredictable threat anticipation. These results suggest that trait variations in the anxiety dimensions shape the dynamics of neural processing of threat. Specifically, trait worry seems to simultaneously increase automatic defensive preparation during unpredictable threat and increase attentional responding to threat-irrelevant stimuli during predictable threat anticipation. The current study highlights the utility of anxiety dimensions to understand how physiological responses during threat anticipation are altered in anxiety and supports that worry is associated with hypersensitivity to unpredictable, aversive contexts.
Article
Background: Anxiety sensitivity social concerns (ASSC) is a risk factor for social anxiety disorder that may motivate avoidance of eye contact (i.e., gaze avoidance), thereby maintaining anxiety. Gaze avoidance displaces socially relevant stimuli (e.g., faces) from foveal (i.e., center) vision, possibly reducing visual sensation of faces and giving an opportunity to misperceive others as rejecting. Methods: We tested the effects of non-foveal viewing on perceiving faces as rejecting, whether there is an indirect effect of ASSC on state anxiety explained by perceived rejection, and whether the indirect effect depended on non-foveal viewing of faces. Participants (N = 118) viewed faces presented within foveal and non-foveal positions and rated how rejecting each face appeared to be, followed by ratings of their own state anxiety. Results: ASSC was associated with perceiving faces as rejecting regardless of face position. There was an indirect effect of ASSC on state anxiety ratings that was explained by perceived rejection, but only in the non-foveal positions. The indirect effect was due to an association between perceived rejection and state anxiety that was only present when faces were viewed in non-foveal vision. Discussion: The findings suggest ASSC may maintain state anxiety partially through the perceived rejection someone experiences while avoiding the gaze of others. This study supports cognitive theories of social anxiety and encourages cognitive-behavioral interventions for gaze avoidance in people with social anxiety disorder.
Article
Background and Objectives Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of consequences of anxiety-related sensations, and has been linked to the development of panic symptoms. Distress tolerance (DT) encompasses one’s behavioral or self-perceived ability to handle aversive states. We examined whether higher DT buffers the relationship between AS and changes in panic symptoms across two timepoints, spaced ∼three weeks apart. Design and Methods At Time 1, 208 participants completed questionnaires and a physical DT task (breath-holding duration), a cognitive DT task (anagram persistence), and a self-report measure of DT (perceived DT). Panic symptoms were assessed at both timepoints. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate two models in which AS and DT predicted changes in panic. Results Contrary to hypotheses, for those with longer breath-holding duration (higher physical DT), higher fears of physical anxiety-related sensations (higher physical AS) were associated with worse panic outcomes over time. Conclusions Findings suggest that those with lower physical DT may have been less willing to engage with difficult tasks in the short-term. Although disengagement in the short-term may provide temporary relief, it is possible that averse psychopathological consequences stemming from rigid or habitual avoidance of distressing states may develop over longer periods of time.
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Parental negative beliefs about child anxiety (PBA; e.g., thoughts that experiencing anxiety is harmful for the child) are significantly associated with child anxiety, parental involvement in child anxiety treatment, and parental accommodation of anxious child behaviors, suggesting that parents high in PBA might engage in overprotective and restrictive parenting behaviors. The parental behaviors of overcontrol (OC) and autonomy granting (AG) are also linked to child anxiety; however, the mediating role of PBA in the context of parental and adolescent anxiety and parental OC and AG has not been examined. Online survey self-report data were collected from 119 adolescents and their parents (54 mother-adolescent dyads and 57 father-adolescent dyads), on the variables of adolescent anxiety, parent- and adolescent-reported AG and OC, and PBA to test exploratory models of these constructs. PBA correlated significantly with adolescent anxiety and adolescent- and parent-reported OC, but with neither adolescent- nor parent-reported AG. PBA partially mediated the relationship between parental anxiety and OC in the full sample and for fathers, but not mothers. PBA also significantly mediated the relationship between parent- and adolescent-reported OC and adolescent anxiety, both in the full sample as well as for the father and mother subsamples. For mother dyads, parental anxiety was correlated with OC, but not AG, whereas for father dyads, paternal anxiety was associated with AG, but not OC. Findings suggest that addressing parents’ beliefs about their adolescent’s anxiety might provide one potential point of intervention when attempting to address overprotective behaviors that might impede an adolescent’s treatment outcome.
Article
Background: There is continuing debate as to the latent structure underpinning posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. The transdiagnostic vulnerability factors of negative affect, anxiety sensitivity (and subcomponents) and intolerance of uncertainty have previously demonstrated the ability to explain symptom clusters in a range of anxiety and depressive disorders, and may give further understanding of PTSD symptomatology. Method: Within an Australian Defence Force veteran population, structural equation modeling is utilized to assess whether a hierarchical Original Model containing negative affect as the general cognitive factor, anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty as mid-level factors, can explain variability among posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. A further hierarchical Anxiety Sensitivity Extended model consisting of the general cognitive factor of negative affect and the three sub-factors of anxiety sensitivity as mid-level factors was also tested upon PTSD symptom clusters. Results: Both the hierarchical Original and Anxiety Sensitivity Extended models fit the data well. Within both models, negative affect consistently showed significant direct effects upon the posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters. In the Original Model, anxiety sensitivity served as a significant mediator of negative affect for several symptom clusters, while intolerance of uncertainty was non-significant both as a direct effect and as a mediator of negative affect. In the Anxiety Sensitivity Extended Model, the cognitive concerns sub-factor of anxiety sensitivity served as a significant mediator of negative affect for several symptom clusters, while the social and physical concerns sub-factors did not have significant direct or mediating effects. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a transdiagnostic hierarchical model significantly explains the severity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition posttraumatic stress disorder symptom constructs within a subclinical population. Negative affect and anxiety sensitivity can each be targeted with specific interventions, suggesting new avenues to augment current gold standard psychotherapeutic interventions.
Article
"Purpose: The aim of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of Group-Based Emotional Schema Therapy (GBEST) on anxiety sensitivity and anxiety severity decrease in females with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Methods: This was a double-blind randomized experimental study that was carried out with three pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages within an experimental group and the control group. The participants were 50 outpatient females with GAD that they recruited by a random sampling method in each group. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale (GAD-7) were used in this study. The experimental group was imposed on the GBEST in 10 sessions which were held weekly for 90 minutes; finally, the post-test was applied to both experimental and control groups and three months later, they were followed up. Results: Findings showed that the experimental group had a significant decrease in anxiety sensitivity and anxiety severity compared with the control group during the post-test and the follow-up stages. Conclusions: The GBEST is recommended for the treatment of anxiety sensitivity and anxiety severity in females with GAD."
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Anxiety sensitivity (AS) and AS subfactors (physical, cognitive, and social) have been found to have robust associations with suicide risk. While the direct association between AS subfactors and suicide risk have been explored, little is known about how specific mechanisms, such as dissociation, might explain this relationship. This study aimed to run three analyses to examine the direct and indirect effects of suicidal thoughts and AS via dissociative symptoms. We predicted that dissociation would be a pathway through which AS physical concerns (ASPC) and AS cognitive concerns (ASCC) predicts suicidal ideation. Participants included 84 undergraduate students from a Southeastern University who were elevated on ASCC. Participants completed measures examining dissociative experiences, anxiety sensitivity, and current suicidal ideation. Results revealed that dissociation had a significant indirect effect with ASPC but not ASCC. The current preliminary study showed that ASCC had direct associations with suicide risk; however, those with lower levels of ASPC and dissociation may also be more likely to develop suicide risk. Future research should explore the possibility that the dissociation/ASPC and ASCC pathways are separate, but related, paths to suicidality.
Article
Anxiety and uncertainty are common during pandemics. The present study extended previous pandemic research by investigating the role of two transdiagnostic risk factors - anxiety sensitivity (AS: fear of physiological anxiety or “fear of fear”; Reiss & McNally, 1985) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU; Buhr & Dugas, 2009) – in explaining relations between mental distress symptoms and behavioural responding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Student and community-based participants (N=457; 87.6% female) were recruited between May and July 2020 to complete measures of anxiety (health, panic, general), depression, and stress. Anxiety and related symptoms were found to be higher than in previous studies. Parallel mediation analyses showed that clinically meaningful levels of mental distress symptoms directly influenced safety behaviours and medical care utilization but also indirectly influenced the latter (vs. former) through AS-physical concerns (vs. IU). CBT interventions, targeting AS-physical concerns, may reduce mental distress symptoms during pandemic and prevent overuse of healthcare.
Article
Listening to music aids regulation of emotional arousal and valence (positive versus negative). Anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of arousal-related sensations) increases risk for emotion dysregulation and associated coping behaviors like substance use and exercise avoidance. The relationship between AS and music listening, however, has received very little attention. This study (1) used exploratory factor analysis of 53 items drawn from three previously validated measures of reasons for music listening to identify the core reasons for listening to music among university students; and (2) explored associations between AS and reasons for music listening. Undergraduates (N = 788; 77.7% women; Mage = 19.20, SDage = 2.46) completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Motives for Listening to Music Questionnaire, Barcelona Musical Reward Questionnaire, and Brief Music in Mood Regulation Scale. Six core reasons for music listening were identified: Coping, Conformity, Revitalization, Social Enhancement, Connection, and Sensory-Motor. Over and above age and gender, AS was associated with Coping and Conformity – reasons that involve relief from aversive emotions. AS also was associated with listening for Connection reasons. AS was not associated with Revitalization, Social Enhancement, or Sensory-Motor – reasons that involve rewards such as heightened positive emotions. Results suggest individual differences may influence why people incorporate music listening into their day-to-day lives. Further longitudinal and experimental research is needed to establish directionality and causality in the observed relationship of AS to relief-oriented reasons for music listening. Findings may guide music therapists’ efforts to tailor treatment for individuals at risk for anxiety and related mental health problems.
Article
Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of anxiety-related sensations, has demonstrated relevance to a broad range of psychiatric conditions, including substance use disorders (SUDs). Anxiety sensitivity is typically measured through self-report instruments, most commonly the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3). Despite the widespread use of the ASI-3 in studies of SUDs, little is known about its psychometric properties within this population. Patients on an inpatient detoxification unit seeking treatment for SUDs (N = 1248) completed a battery of self-report measures, including the ASI-3. Psychometric properties of the ASI-3 were examined. An exploratory factor analysis with half of the sample (n = 624) supported a 3-factor structure corresponding to the ASI-3 subscales (Social Concerns, Cognitive Concerns, Physical Concerns). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate this 3-dimensional structure in a separate subsample (n = 624), resulting in adequate fit when testing a second-order hierarchical model. Internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity results also supported the use of the ASI-3 in people with SUDs. Despite its widespread use in SUD research, this is the first psychometric investigation of the ASI-3 among individuals seeking treatment for SUDs.
Article
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Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a common vulnerability in emotional disorders. Due to the pathological role of AS, individuals with high AS are faced with emotional problems. Thus, cognitive behavioural interventions try to reduce these problems by targeting AS. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy (T-CBT) and construct-specific CBT (CS-CBT) on AS, anxiety, depression, and positive and negative affect in these patients. To this end, 40 patients with high AS were randomly assigned to one of the three groups of T-CBT, CS-CBT, and wait list. Participants were assessed using the Anxiety and Related Disorders Interview Schedule for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule at baseline, post-treatment, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. The findings showed that T-CBT and CS-CBT have a significant effect on AS, anxiety, and negative affect; however, contrary to T-CBT, CS-CBT is not effective for reducing depression and positive affect. T-CBT had a more promising efficacy than CS-CBT in all treatment outcomes. The results show better and more stable efficacy of T-CBT among patients with high AS. It is essential to consider AS as a target for cognitive behavioural intervention for the spectrum of emotional disorders.
Article
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Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been defined as the fear of anxiety and anxiety-related sensations, and evidence suggests that AS plays an important role in the psychopathology of panic. It is entirely unclear whether the relation between AS and panic should be attributed to one (or more) of the AS group factors, the general AS factor, or to factors at both levels of the AS hierarchy. The authors reanalyzed data presented earlier by R. M. Rapee, T. A. Brown, M. A. Antony, and D. H. Barlow (1992) to tease apart the contributions of the different levels of the AS hierarchy to fear responses to hyperventilation and 5.5% carbon dioxide challenges. ne results demonstrated that AS-Physical Concerns is the only one of the three AS group factors that contributes to relations with fear responses to these two challenges. However, AS-Mental Incapacitation Concerns had a stronger positive linear association with depressed mood than did AS-Physical Concerns.
Article
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Expectancy theory posits that anxiety sensitivity may serve as a premorbid risk factor for the development of anxiety pathology (S. Reiss, 1991). The principal aim of the present study was to determine whether anxiety sensitivity acts as a specific vulnerability factor in the pathogenesis of anxiety pathology. A large, nonclinical sample of young adults (N = 1,401) was prospectively followed over a 5-week highly stressful period of time (i.e., military basic training). Anxiety sensitivity was found to predict the development of spontaneous panic attacks after controlling for a history of panic attacks and trait anxiety. Approximately 20% of those scoring in the upper decile on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (R. A. Peterson & S. Reiss, 1987) experienced a panic attack during the 5-week follow-up period compared with only 6% for the remainder of the sample. Anxiety sensitivity also predicted anxiety symptomatology, functional impairment created by anxiety, and disability. These data provide strong evidence for anxiety sensitivity as a risk factor in the development of panic attacks and other anxiety symptoms.
Book
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Anxiety isn't all in your head. When you feel nervous, symptoms such as chills, sweating, heart palpitations, and shaking can affect your whole body. If you worry that others notice these anxiety symptoms or fear that they could be harmful to your health, you may have anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of anxiety-related sensations, a condition that affects approximately 16 percent of the population. People with high anxiety sensitivity often fear these bodily sensations even more than the situation that caused their anxiety in the first place. This fear of fear can lead them to avoid activities that might trigger their symptoms, and can cause other mental and physical problems down the road. Overcoming the Fear of Fear provides you with all the tools you need to stop fearing your anxiety symptoms for good. You'll learn to use cognitive behavioral techniques that have been proven effective for people with anxiety sensitivity. These techniques can help you reduce your anxiety sensitivity, prevent recurrence of panic attacks, and start living without fear.
Article
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The present study explored psychological predictors of response to a series of three 25 second inhalations of 20% carbon dioxide-enriched air in 60 nonclinical participants. Multiple regression analyses indicated that only anxiety sensitivity physical concerns predicted self-reported fear, whereas both physical anxiety sensitivity concerns and behavioural inhibition sensitivity independently predicted affective ratings of emotional arousal. In contrast, the psychological concerns anxiety sensitivity dimension predicted ratings of emotional displeasure (valence), and both psychological anxiety sensitivity concerns and behavioural inhibition sensitivity independently predicted emotional dyscontrol. No variables significantly predicted heart rate. These data are in accord with current models of emotional reactivity that highlight the role of cognitive variables in the production of anxious and fearful responding to somatic perturbation, and help further clarify the particular predictors of anxiety-related responding to biological challenge.
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The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; S. H. Lovibond & P. F. Lovibond, 1995) and the 21-item short form of these measures (DASS–21 ) were examined in nonclinical volunteers ( n = 49) and patients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnoses of panic disorder ( n =  67), obsessive-compulsive disorder ( n = 54), social phobia ( n = 74), specific phobia ( n = 17), and major depressive disorder ( n = 46). This study replicates previous findings indicating that the DASS distinguishes well between features of depression, physical arousal, and psychological tension and agitation and extends these observations to the DASS–21. In addition, the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the DASS and DASS–21 were in the acceptable to excellent ranges. Mean scores for the various groups were similar to those in previous research, and in the expected direction. The implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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describe the development and characteristics of the PSWQ [Penn State Worry Questionnaire], an instrument designed to provide a trait assessment of pathological worry / its 16 items capture some of the important features of clinically relevant worry, namely the (1) generality of worry over time and situations, the (2) intensity/excessiveness of worry, and the (3) uncontrollability of worry / a comprehensive account of the instrument's psychometric properties is included, and normative data are provided for several populations / these include both clinical and non-clinical groups / a very thorough account of the relationship between the PSWQ and other self-report measures is presented (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
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The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) is one of the most widely used measures of the construct of anxiety sensitivity. Until the recent introduction of a hierarchical model of the ASI by S. O. Lilienfeld, S. M. Turner, and R. G. Jacob (1993), the factor structure of the ASI was the subject of debate, with some researchers advocating a unidimensional structure and others proposing multidimensional structures. In the present study, involving 432 outpatients seeking treatment at an anxiety disorders clinic and 32 participants with no mental disorder, the authors tested a hierarchical factor model. The results supported a hierarchical factor structure consisting of 3 lower order factors and 1 higher order factor. It is estimated that the higher order, general factor accounts for 60% of the variance in ASI total scores. The implications of these findings for the conceptualization and assessment of anxiety sensitivity are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
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Anxiety sensitivity (fear of anxiety) is thought to play an important role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. One of the most widely used measures of anxiety sensitivity is the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). The originators of this scale regarded it as a measure of a unidimensional construct (S. Reiss et al, 1986). Recent investigations have challenged this claim, and several 4-factor solutions have been proposed. If the dimension(s) of this scale are to guide theory and research, then it is necessary to determine the most stable factor structure. ASI responses were obtained from 142 spider-phobic college students and 327 psychiatric patients presenting with anxiety or stress-related (psychophysiological) disorders. The results of a series of confirmatory analyses indicated that the ASI is best regarded as unifactorial. The implications for the conceptualization of anxiety sensitivity are considered, and directions for further investigation are set out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
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Using two clinical samples of patients, the presented studies examined the construct validity of the recently revised Anxiety Sensitivity Index–3 (ASI-3). Confirmatory factor analyses established a clear three-factor structure that corresponds to the postulated subdivision of the construct into correlated somatic, social, and cognitive components. Participants with different primary clinical diagnoses differed from each other on the ASI-3 subscales in theoretically meaningful ways. Specifically, the ASI-3 successfully discriminated patients with anxiety disorders from patients with nonanxiety disorders. Moreover, patients with panic disorder or agoraphobia manifested more somatic concerns than patients with other anxiety disorders and patients with nonanxiety disorders. Finally, correlations of the ASI-3 scales with other measures of clinical symptoms and negative affect substantiated convergent and discriminant validity. Substantial positive correlations were found between the ASI-3 Somatic Concerns and body vigilance, between Social Concerns and fear of negative evaluation and socially inhibited behavior, and between Cognitive Concerns and depression symptoms, anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and subjective complaints. Moreover, Social Concerns correlated negatively with dominant and intrusive behavior. Results are discussed with respect to the contribution of the ASI-3 to the assessment of anxiety-related disorders.
Article
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Cross-lagged panel analysis of interview data collected from survivors of traumatic physical injury (N = 677) was used to examine the temporal relationship between anxiety sensitivity and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. The 2 constructs were assessed at 3 time points: within days of physical injury, at 6-month follow-up, and at 12-month follow-up. Results indicated that anxiety sensitivity and PTSD symptom severity were reciprocally related such that anxiety sensitivity predicted subsequent PTSD symptom severity, and symptom severity predicted later anxiety sensitivity. Findings have both theoretical and clinical implications.
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There is a substantial literature relating the personality trait anxiety sensitivity (AS; tendency to fear anxiety-related sensations) and its lower order dimensions to the mood and anxiety (i.e., internalizing) disorders. However, particularly given the disorders' high comorbidity rates, it remains unclear whether AS is broadly related to these disorders or if it shows a pattern of differential relations. Meta-analyses of the concurrent relations of AS with the internalizing disorders were conducted based on 117 studies and 792 effect sizes. Mean Anxiety Sensitivity Index scores by diagnostic group and AS-symptom correlations both indicated that AS is most strongly related to panic, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More specific analyses were also conducted on (a) AS correlations with symptom dimensions within individual disorders and (b) correlations between lower order AS components and symptoms. The meta-analytic correlation matrix for higher order AS-disorder relations was submitted to path analysis, modeling latent Distress disorders and Fear disorders that control for much of the shared variance among the disorders. Results of the path analysis indicated that AS is broadly related to these disorders but that agoraphobia, GAD, panic, and PTSD have the strongest associations. In addition, AS was more strongly related to the latent distress disorders than the fear disorders. Because of the contemporaneous assessment of AS and internalizing disorders in these studies, the results should not be taken to mean that AS has a stronger casual association with certain disorders. Implications for concurrent AS-internalizing relations, interpretations of the AS construct, and structural models of personality and psychopathology are discussed.
Article
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There has been significant interest in the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in the anxiety disorders. In this meta-analysis, we empirically evaluate differences in AS between anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and nonclinical controls. A total of 38 published studies (N = 20,146) were included in the analysis. The results yielded a large effect size indicating greater AS among anxiety disorder patients versus nonclinical controls (d = 1.61). However, this effect was maintained only for panic disorder patients compared to mood disorder patients (d = 0.85). Panic disorder was also associated with greater AS compared to other anxiety disorders except for posttraumatic stress disorder (d = 0.04). Otherwise the anxiety disorders generally did not differ from each other in AS. Although these findings suggest that AS is central to the phenomenology of panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, causal inferences regarding the role of AS in these anxiety disorders cannot be made. Moderator analyses showed that a greater proportion of female participants was associated with larger differences in AS between anxiety and nonclinical control groups. However, more female participants were associated with a smaller AS difference between anxiety and mood disorder groups. This finding suggests that AS is less robust in distinguishing anxiety from mood disorders among women. Age also moderated some observed effects such that AS was more strongly associated with anxiety disorders in adults compared to children. Type of AS measure used also moderated some effects. Implications of these findings for the conceptualization of AS in anxiety-related disorders are discussed.
Book
Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety sensations which arises from beliefs that these sensations have harmful somatic, social, or psychological consequences. Over the past decade, AS has attracted a great deal of attention from researchers and clinicians with more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles published. In addition, AS has been the subject of numerous symposia, papers, and posters at professional conventions.© 1999 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Why this growing interest? Theory and research suggest that AS plays an important role in the etiology and maintenance of many forms of psychopathology, including anxiety disorders, depression, chronic pain, and substance abuse. Bringing together experts from a variety of different areas, this volume offers the first comprehensive state-of-the-art review of AS--its conceptual foundations, assessment, causes, consequences, and treatment--and points new directions for future work. It will prove to be an invaluable resource for clinicians, researchers, students, and trainees in all mental health professions. © 1999 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Article
The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) is one of the most widely used measures of the construct of anxiety sensitivity. Until the recent introduction of a hierarchical model of the ASI by S. O. Lilienfeld, S. M. Turner, and R. G. Jacob (1993), the factor structure of the ASI was the subject of debate, with some researchers advocating a unidimensional structure and others proposing multidimensional structures. In the present study, involving 432 outpatients seeking treatment at an anxiety disorders clinic and 32 participants with no mental disorder, the authors tested a hierarchical factor model. The results supported a hierarchical factor structure consisting of 3 lower order factors and 1 higher order factor. It is estimated that the higher order, general factor accounts for 60% of the variance in ASI total scores. The implications of these findings for the conceptualization and assessment of anxiety sensitivity are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety-related sensations. According to Reiss’s (e.g., Reiss, 1991) expectancy theory, AS amplifies fear and anxiety reactions, and plays an important role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders, particularly panic disorder. Recent evidence suggests that AS has a hierarchical structure, consisting of multiple lower order factors, loading on a single higher order factor. If each factor corresponds to a discrete mechanism (Cattell, 1978), then the results suggest that AS arises from a hierarchic arrangement of mechanisms. A problem with previous studies is that they were based on the 16-item Anxiety Sensitivity Index, which may not contain enough items to reveal the type and number of lower order factors. Also, some of the original ASI items are too general to assess specific, lower order factors. Accordingly, we developed an expanded measure of AS—the ASI-R—which consists of 36 items with subscales assessing each of the major domains of AS suggested by previous studies. The ASI-R was completed by 155 psychiatric outpatients. Factor analyses indicated a four-factor hierarchical solution, consisting of four lower order factors, loading on a single higher factor. The lower order factors were: (1) fear of respiratory symptoms, (2) fear of publicly observable anxiety reactions, (3) fear of cardiovascular symptoms, and (4) fear of cognitive dyscontrol. Each factor was correlated with measures of anxiety and depression, and fear of cognitive dyscontrol was most highly correlated with depression, which is broadly consistent with previous research. At pretreatment, patients with panic disorder tended to scored highest on each of the factors, compared to patients with other anxiety disorders and those with nonanxiety disorders. These findings offer further evidence that Reiss’s expectancy theory would benefit from revision, to incorporate the notion of a hierarchic structure of AS.
Article
The aim of the current study was to investigate whether prenatal levels of anxiety sensitivity would predict post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following childbirth. A total of 40 women completed a series of self-report measures, including the Anxiety Sensitivity Index and the General Health Questionnaire at 36 weeks gestation. The women were followed-up 2 weeks postpartum with self-report measures of post-traumatic stress disorder, mood and birth experiences. Correlational analysis revealed that a combination of pre- and postnatal psychological factors as well as obstetric events was related to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Regression analysis revealed that prenatal anxiety sensitivity predicted post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, suggesting that anxiety sensitivity may act as an important vulnerability factor in psychopathological responses to childbirth. Further investigation into this construct seems warranted.
Article
Anxiety sensitivity (AS), a belief that symptoms of anxiety (e.g., autonomic arousal) can be harmful (Reiss & McNally, 1985), predisposes individuals to the development of panic disorder (PD). A pathoplasty relationship between two variables is defined when a dispositional variable is associated with the expression or course of a clinical condition. The theoretical and empirical literature on the pathoplastic relationship between AS and PD has only addressed limited aspects of the expression and course of PD in relation to the total AS score. In addition, there has been no evaluation of the pathoplastic relationship between lower-order empirically-established AS dimensions and the full range of PD expression and course This study examined the pathoplasty relationship of total AS and its lower-order sub-factors with variables representing a full range of the expression and course of panic disorder. One hundred and thirty one adults with formally-diagnosed PD volunteered for participation in a PD assessment and treatment research protocol. Information on the expression and course of PD (Panic frequency, intensity, anticipation, avoidance, and core fears) was derived from clinician-rated and self-report measures collected at pre- and post-treatment phases of the study. The three major findings include: (1) AS is related to the major features of PD expression and course, (2) changes in AS correspond to changes in these features, and (3) AS lower- order factors possess specific relationships with features of PD expression and course. These findings suggest that AS is related to the maintenance and treatment of PD. In addition, the specific relationships among AS lower-order factors and PD expression and course features help clarify the means by which AS contributes to the maintenance and treatment of PD, which may lead to improved assessment and treatment models.
Article
The present study tested if the global anxiety sensitivity construct and its constituent factors (i.e., physical, mental incapacitation, and social concerns) moderate the relation between traumatic event exposure frequency and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Participants were 61 rural young adults who reported experiencing at least 1 lifetime traumatic event. Consistent with prediction, anxiety sensitivity total and subfactor levels moderated the relation between trauma exposure frequency and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. These moderating effects were above and beyond variance accounted for by the respective anxiety sensitivity and stress main effects as well as other theoretically relevant factors (e.g., negative affectivity). Findings are discussed in relation to better understanding cognitive-based individual difference factors associated with posttraumatic stress symptomatology.
Article
proposed that panic attacks result from the catastrophic misinterpretation of certain bodily sensations . . . involved in normal anxiety responses (e.g., palpitations, breathlessness and dizziness) perceiving these sensations as much more dangerous than they really are / indicative of an immediate, impending disaster types of panic attack / nonconscious processes / state or trait characteristic / fear of fear / hypochondriasis review the literature on panic to determine the extent to which it is consistent with the proposed model / ideational components / perceived sequence of events / role of hyperventilation / lactate-induced / biological factors / pharmacological treatment (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
151 college students to whom the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) was administered in 1984 were retested in 1987 for anxiety sensitivity and tested for panic attacks, state-trait anxiety, and anxiety disorder history. ASI scores in 1984 predicted the frequency and intensity of panic attacks in 1987. Compared to Ss with low 1984 ASI scores, Ss with high 1984 ASI scores were 5 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder during the period 1984 to 1987. Test-retest reliability for the ASI across 3 yrs was .71. Data provide evidence for the stability of anxiety sensitivity over time and that the concept of anxiety sensitivity should be considered a personality variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
In the absence of any comprehensive or sophisticated empirical literature on the relationship between gender and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this chapter should be viewed as an exploration of the possible relationships between these 2 constructs and, particularly, about why data appears to conclude that women are more vulnerable to traumatic events than men. We specifically outline areas of study that can lead to the development of further empirical study of the relationship between gender and PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Evaluated a scale for measuring anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the belief that anxiety symptoms have negative consequences), the Child Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), in 76 7th–9th graders and 33 emotionally disturbed children (aged 8–15 yrs). The CASI had sound psychometric properties for both samples. The view that anxiety sensitivity is a separate concept from that of anxiety frequency and that it is a concept applicable with children was supported. The CASI correlated with measures of fear and anxiety and accounted for variance on the Fear Survey Schedule for Children—Revised and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (Trait form) that could not be explained by a measure of anxiety frequency. The possible role of anxiety sensitivity as a predisposing factor in the development of anxiety disorder in children is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Previous research has found anxiety sensitivity (AS) to be elevated in persons with major depression, and a facet of AS referred to as fear of cognitive dyscontrol or fear of mental incapacitation has been associated with severity of depressed mood. The present study sought to replicate and extend these findings in a sample of 142 outpatients with a primary diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder. After statistically controlling for the higher order effect of neuroticism, the AS fear of cognitive dyscontrol facet was found to be a significant predictor of severity of depressed mood. However, further analysis provided strong evidence that the effect of this AS facet is mediated by rumination over depressed mood. Results are discussed in the context of depression sensitivity, a proposed cognitive structure that may underlie the cognitive process of rumination over depression symptoms.