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Etiology of the dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: A behavioral-genetic analysis

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (AS) contributes to individual differences in fearfulness and to the risk of developing anxiety disorders. To investigate the origins of AS we administered the Anxiety Sensitivity Index to 245 monozygotic and 193 dizygotic twin pairs, comprising 658 women and 218 men. Scores were calculated for the most widely replicated AS dimensions; physical, cognitive, and social concerns. For women, each dimension was influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Heritability in women significantly increased with AS scores, indicating that severe forms of AS, compared to milder forms, are more strongly influenced by genetic factors. Correlations among AS dimensions for women could be explained by genetic and environmental factors influencing all three dimensions. For men, dimensions were influenced by environmental but not genetic factors. Correlations among dimensions for men could be explained by environmental factors influencing all dimensions. Overall, the findings reveal that AS has more complex etiology than previously recognized; its dimensions appear to arise from a mix of dimension-specific and non-specific etiologic factors, whose importance vary as a function of sex and severity.

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... This positive feedback mechanism results in an amplifying response that may culminate in severe anxiety (Reiss, 1991). Research suggests that anxiety sensitivity develops early (Taylor, 1999), has strong genetic underpinnings (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008), is linked to the development of anxiety problems (Hayward, Killen, Kraemer, & Taylor, 2000), and correlates significantly with indices of anxious temperament (Arden & Linford, 2009;Hagopian & Ollendick, 1996). ...
... boys) are more likely to experience physiological arousal when anxious, which over time may produce feelings of depression if such physiological hyperarousal is thought to signal catastrophe (Walsh et al., 2004). Alternatively, albeit yet to be examined among children, the anxiety-depression symptom relation among girls with high anxiety sensitivity may be especially strong because high anxiety sensitivity in this group may signal increased genetic risk to anxiety and depressive disorders more broadly (Taylor et al., 2008). Indeed, more severe forms of AS appear to be more strongly influenced by genetic factors among females (Taylor et al., 2008). ...
... Alternatively, albeit yet to be examined among children, the anxiety-depression symptom relation among girls with high anxiety sensitivity may be especially strong because high anxiety sensitivity in this group may signal increased genetic risk to anxiety and depressive disorders more broadly (Taylor et al., 2008). Indeed, more severe forms of AS appear to be more strongly influenced by genetic factors among females (Taylor et al., 2008). ...
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The co-occurrence between anxiety and depression symptoms among children with anxiety disorders is well-known, yet there is considerable heterogeneity in terms of explanatory factors. Although cognitive–affective processes have been hypothesized to play a prominent role, surprisingly, no research to date has examined the role of anxiety sensitivity in this co-occurrence. The present investigation examined the role of anxiety sensitivity in the co-occurrence of anxiety and depression symptoms among clinically anxious children. We expected that anxiety sensitivity would moderate the co-occurrence between anxiety and depression symptoms, such that higher anxiety would be related to higher depression among boys and girls with high (but not low) anxiety sensitivity. Participants (N = 44, age range = 8–12 years; 52% female; 52% African American) were interviewed with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-IV: Children and Parent Versions and completed self-report measures of anxiety sensitivity, anxiety, and depression symptom severity. Controlling for child age, moderation analyses revealed that higher anxiety was related to higher depression only among girls with high anxiety sensitivity. Among girls with low anxiety sensitivity, the relation between anxiety and depression symptoms was not significant. Anxiety and depression symptoms were strongly correlated among clinically anxious boys irrespective of their levels of anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety sensitivity is an important factor related to anxiety–depression symptom co-occurrence among clinically anxious females in particular. Targeted interventions focused on anxiety sensitivity reduction may prove useful for reducing anxiety–depression symptom co-occurrence among clinically anxious girls. Future research should explore additional moderators that may explain the high correlation between anxiety and depressive symptoms observed among clinically anxious boys.
... Current conceptualizations of anxiety sensitivity include three facets, fear of somatic sensations, fear of cognitive dyscontrol or cognitive concerns, and fear of observable symptoms or social concerns. Cognitive concerns are associated with the belief that difficulties in concentrating will lead to mental incapacitation, while social concerns are associated with the belief that publicly observable symptoms, such as blushing or trembling, will lead to social humiliation and rejection (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008;Wheaton, Deacon, McGrath, Berman, & Abramowitz, 2012). Research on the origins of anxiety sensitivity reveals a complex etiology. ...
... Research on the origins of anxiety sensitivity reveals a complex etiology. In women a combination of genetic and environmental factors explain variability in anxiety sensitivity scores, whereas in men variability in anxiety sensitivity scores is explained by environmental factors (Taylor et al., 2008). Regarding the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and social anxiety in adolescents, research findings revealed that socially anxious adolescents had higher anxiety sensitivity than non-socially anxious adolescents (Anderson & Hope, 2009). ...
... In our case, behavioural inhibition is a temperamental predisposition that appears very early in life and relies heavily on limbic system reactivity (Fox et al., 2005;Gray & McNaughton, 2000). On the other hand, environmental contingencies and learning processes are involved in the development of anxiety sensitivity in men, and a combination of genetic and environmental factors explain variability in anxiety sensitivity scores in women (Taylor et al., 2008). Furthermore, self-regulatory mechanisms such as experiential avoidance develop later in life and modulate temperamental emotional reactivity (Bijttebier et al., 2009;Fox et al., 2005). ...
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Social anxiety in adolescence can have severe consequences including underachievement and school drop-out, psychopathology, and substance use disorders. The development of social anxiety in adolescents is a complex and poorly understood process. Temperamental predispositions such as behavioural inhibition are significant risk factors but the specific path leading from behavioural inhibition to social anxiety remains unclear. One potential pathway is that temperament leads to social anxiety through learned self-regulation strategies and cognitive predispositions, a hypothesis that has not yet been investigated in adolescents. In an attempt to investigate further this idea, we ran parallel multiple mediation analysis to examine whether greater behavioural inhibition system sensitivity is linked to higher social anxiety via greater anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance levels in a random community sample of high-school adolescents (N=718). The results confirmed our hypotheses. Independently of gender and after controlling for anxiety psychopathology and depression levels, greater behavioural inhibition system sensitivity was associated with more severe social anxiety in adolescents both directly and indirectly through greater experiential avoidance and more severe anxiety sensitivity. Given the fact that social anxiety is a serious cause of academic and social impairment in adolescence, the present findings suggest malleable risk factors that can be effectively addressed in targeted prevention and treatment interventions. Results are discussed in light of previous relevant findings and in relation to relevant theoretical and methodological issues and clinical implications.
... We have accumulated considerable evidence on the origins of AS. Behaviour genetics research comparing rates of concordance in monozygotic and dizygotic twins has determined that AS arises in part from heritable factors (i.e., a genetically inherited tendency to fear arousal-related sensations) at least among females (Taylor et al., 2008). Moreover, among women, more severe forms (compared to milder forms) of AS were more strongly influenced by genetics (Taylor et al., 2008). ...
... Behaviour genetics research comparing rates of concordance in monozygotic and dizygotic twins has determined that AS arises in part from heritable factors (i.e., a genetically inherited tendency to fear arousal-related sensations) at least among females (Taylor et al., 2008). Moreover, among women, more severe forms (compared to milder forms) of AS were more strongly influenced by genetics (Taylor et al., 2008). A set of collaborative studies that I have conducted with my longtime collaborator, Margo Watt, have also shown an important role for childhood learning experiences involving operant and vicarious conditioning in the origins of AS. ...
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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.
... Moreover, anxiety sensitivity was the predictor of obsessive-compulsive disorder and hypochondriasis . Anxiety sensitivity results from an individual's fear about the possibility that their own anxiety experience might cause injury, illness, and death (Taylor et al., 2008). A positive correlation was found within the scope of outbreaks between anxiety sensitivity, anxiety about H1N1 disease , and fear of the Ebola virus (Blakey et al., 2015). ...
... In the literature, research findings support that women have a higher level of anxiety sensitivity than men (DeWolfe et al., 2019;Norr et al., 2015). In the literature, it is also stated that environmental factors affect men's level of anxiety sensitivity; however, in women, environmental factors and hereditary factors affect anxiety sensi tivity (Taylor et al., 2008). The reason why it was found in the present study that women have higher levels of anxiety sensitivity than men, maybe because women are more anxious, neater, and meticulous due to their heredity and their family's raising style. ...
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Epidemics bring along many pathologies and become a threat for ill individuals because of an outbreak and those exposed to th e outbreak process. Many negative psychological and educational results can be encountered following the COVID-19 process when previous studies were considered together with these threats. In this context, this research aimed to examine the effect of t he COVI D-19 on anxiety sensitivity, death anxiety, and resilience. In addition, examining anxiety sensitivity in terms of some personal variables (gender, physical health, marital status, and working status). The study has been conducted on a relational survey method. Th e participants consisted of 955 individuals aged between 18-68, of which 281 were males, and 662 were females. In this study, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Death Anxiety Scale, and Brief Resilience Scale were used to collect data. The data were analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient, regression, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA. The result of analyses showed a positive correlation between anxiety sensitivity and death anxiety; however, there is a negative correlation between resilience and anxiety sensit ivity. Furthermore, resilience and anxiety sensitivity differed significantly according to gender, marital status, and working status (student, unemployed, employed, retired); however, the level of death anxiety did not differ according to gender and marital status. An xiety sensitivity, death anxiety, and resilience did not differ significantly in terms of physical health. When considering the finding obtain ed in the present study, individuals with high anxiety sensitivity levels were affected more by the COVID-19 pandemic, but those with high resilience levels were affected less. © IJERE. All rights reserved
... AS was assessed using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3; Taylor et al., 2007Taylor et al., , 2008. This is an 18-item self-report measure of an individual's fear of arousal-related body sensations. ...
... This score on the ASI-3 would be considered high (ASI-total .23; Taylor et al., 2008). Participants reported moderate levels of depression (M = 8.87, SD = 4.63) and severe levels of anxiety (M = 7.78, SD = 4.60; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). ...
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Unlabelled: Compared to research conducted with nondisabled samples, little is known about the relation between mental health and physical activity (PA) in individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Despite this population being more at risk of experiencing anxiety and depression and less likely to engage in PA, few studies have investigated other factors that may impact this association in this population such as anxiety sensitivity (AS). AS is a fear of physiological arousal sensations, and importantly has been shown to be negatively associated with PA in people without disabilities. It is unknown if the changes to how one experiences physiological sensations after a SCI impacts the relation between AS and PA. Objective: This study investigated which forms of PA are predicted by anxiety and depression and whether AS is predictive of PA in this population. Research method: 98 participants with a SCI (both paraplegia and tetraplegia) completed an online questionnaire that had measures of PA, AS, and anxiety and depression. Results: It was found that symptoms of anxiety were significantly associated with mild-intensity PA. Interestingly AS was positively associated with moderate-intensity PA. Conclusions: The results of this study show that the relation between mental health and PA in this sample may not mirror what has been found in people without disabilities. More research is needed to replicate these findings as well as to investigate other potential mechanisms that may be relevant for people with a SCI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
... Anxiety sensitivity and anxiety are separate constructs (Reiss et al., 1986): anxiety sensitivity is fear of symptoms and corresponding consequences, whereas anxiety refers to the symptoms of anxiety, such as feeling restless or rapid heartbeat (McNally, 1989;Olatunji & Wolitzky-Taylor, 2009). Anxiety sensitivity is thought to be a relatively stable, yet somewhat malleable, factor that is influenced by both genetic predisposition and social upbringing (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008). In fact, it is estimated that Latinx individuals may report higher anxiety sensitivity (Piña & Silverman, 2004;Weems, Hayward, Killen, & Taylor, 2002) as well as generally higher sensitivity to somatic sensations (Varela et al., 2007) than non-Hispanic White individuals. ...
... Specifically, the main findings build on previous work (e.g., Pascoe & Smart Richman, 2009) that has identified pathways linking discrimination and mental health by exploring emotional stress responses associated with both ethnic and sexist discrimination. Clinically, both anxiety sensitivity and expressive suppression, while relatively stable constructs (Taylor et al., 2008), are still able to be modified through cognitive-behavioral therapy (e.g., Smits, Berry, Tart, & Powers, 2008). Reports have supported that treatment efforts that focus on anxiety sensitivity (Gardenswartz & Craske, 2001) and emotion suppression (Fung et al., 2019) effectively alleviate psychiatric conditions. ...
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Latinx women are twice as likely to experience depression compared to Latinx men. Latinx women are also subjected to heightened stress in the form of ethnic and sexist discrimination. Limited research has sought to explore variables that may have explanatory roles between discrimination and mental health outcomes among women of color. The current study tested whether anxiety sensitivity and expressive suppression uniquely link discrimination and depression for Latinx women. This cross-sectional study included 246 Latinx women primarily of Mexican descent (n = 173) recruited from community events and Mechanical Turk. On average, participants were 36.29 years old (SD = 12.61, range = 18–72). Participants completed several self-report measures on ethnic discrimination (Brief Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire), sexism (Schedule of Sexist Events), anxiety sensitivity (Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3), expressive suppression (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire—Suppression), and depression (Brief Center for Epidemiologic Studies—Depression). Using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013), two parallel mediation analyses examined whether discrimination had an indirect effect via anxiety sensitivity and expressive suppression on depression. Anxiety sensitivity (indirect effect = .65, SE = .24, 95% CI [.21, 1.15]) and expressive suppression (indirect effect = .25, SE = .13, 95% CI [.07, .56]) uniquely linked ethnic discrimination and depression. Anxiety sensitivity (indirect effect = .66, SE = .21, 95% CI [.29, 1.13]) uniquely linked sexist discrimination and depression symptoms, while expressive suppression did not (indirect effect = .13, SE = .10, 95% CI [−.001, .40]). Anxiety sensitivity linked both ethnic and sexist discrimination with depression; however, expressive suppression only linked ethnic discrimination and depression. Evidence suggests that there are different links to depression depending on the type of discrimination for Latinx women.
... için ekonomik dayanak olmaya yatkın olarak görüldüğü için tüm bu özellikler cinsiyet rolü çatışması ihtimalini taşımaktadır. AD'nin zaman içinde değişebileceği iddia edilmiş ise de (Schmidt ve ark. 2000, Broman-Fulks ve ark. 2009); yayınlanan meta analizlere ve ikiz çalışmalarına göre bir kişilik özelliği olarak kavramsallaştırılması daha uygundur (Taylor ve ark. 2008, Naragon-Gainey 2010, Mantar ve ark. 2011. ...
... bir eğitim ve beceri gerektiriyor olması akla gelen ihtimallerden biridir.Bu çalışma, anksiyete duyarlılığı ve sosyal anksiyete arasındaki ilişkiyi etkileyen etkenleri araştıran az sayıdaki çalışmadan birisidir. Anksiyete duyarlılığının kişisel bir özellik olduğu ve zamanla değişmeyeceği düşünülmüş ve çok sayıda çalışma ile bu görüş desteklenmiştir(Taylor ve ark. 2008, Naragon-Gainey 2010, Mantar ve ark. 2011. Bulgularımız literatüre uygun olarak, bu değişmezliği desteklemiştir. Bulgularımız anksiyete duyarlılığının sosyal anksiyetenin güçlü bir yordayıcısı olduğunu, bu yordayıcılığın zaman içinde ve cinsiyet grupları içinde büyük değişikliğe uğramadığını göstermektedir. Bu ilişkinin zaman ve cinsiye ...
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Amaç: Cinsiyet ve geçen zamanın, sosyal anksiyeteye ve anksiyete du- yarlılığına yaptığı etkileri konu alan yayınlanmış çalışmalar olmasına rağmen bu etkilerin nasıl gerçekleştiği hakkında fikir birliğine varılama- mıştır. Çalışmanın amacı, tıp fakültesi son sınıfının sosyal anksiyeteye etkisini saptamanın yanında temelde cinsiyet ve anksiyete duyarlılığına odaklanarak, sosyal anksiyetenin yordayıcılarını belirlemektir. Yöntem: Çalışma iki aşamada yapılmıştır. Demografik Bilgiler Anketi, Liebowitz Sosyal Anksiyete Ölçeği (LSAÖ) ve Anksiyete Duyarlılığı İn- deksi (ADİ) uygulanmıştır. Bu uygulamaların ilki altıncı sınıfın başında (Aşama 1, n=153), diğeri ise altıncı sınıfın sonunda (Aşama 2, n=130) yapılmıştır. Bulgular: Aşama 1’de erkek cinsiyet sosyal anksiyete düzeyini yordarken Aşama 2’de bu yordama kaybolmuştur. Annenin eğitim düzeyi erkek- lerde sosyal anksiyeteyi ters yönde etkilerken kadınlarda herhangi bir etki saptanmamıştır. Sosyal anksiyeteyi ailesinde ruhsal hastalık öykü- sü bulunma ve ADİ puanları yordamıştır. Sosyal anksiyete ve anksiyete duyarlılığı toplam puanları geçen 10 aylık süreçte anlamlı bir değişime uğramamıştır. ADİ alt ölçek puanları ise sosyal anksiyeteyi benzer bi- çimde yordamamaktadır. Sonuç: Bulgularımız anksiyete duyarlılığı ile sosyal anksiyete arasındaki güçlü ilişkiyi doğrulamaktadır. Annenin yüksek düzeyde eğitim almış olması erkeklerde sosyal anksiyeteye karşı koruyucu bir faktör iken ka- dınlarda bu kanıtlanamamıştır. İntörnlük eğitiminde geçen dönemin sosyal anksiyetede belirgin bir düşüşe yol açmadığı gösterilmiştir. Bun- ların yanında ADİ’nin fiziksel belirtiler alt ölçeği, anksiyete duyarlılığı ve sosyal anksiyete arasındaki ilişkiyi açıklamak için yeterlidir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Sosyal fobi, Anksiyete Duyarlılığı, Tıp eğitimi, Anne eğitim düzeyi SUMMARY Does Gender Affect the Relationship Between Anxiety Sensitivity and Social Anxiety? Introduction: Although there are studies on the effects of gender and time on social anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, there is no consensus on how these variables moderate the relationship between the two. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the last year of medical school on social anxiety and to determine the predictors of social anxiety, focusing mainly on gender and anxiety sensitivity. Methods: The study was conducted at two time points. Demographic Information Questionnaire, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) were given to medical school students at Time 1 (n=153): beginning of 6th year of medical school; and at Time 2 (n=130): end of the 6th year. Results: Male gender predicted social anxiety at Time 1 but not at Time 2. Maternal education negatively predicted social anxiety in males; no prediction was observed for females. Psychiatric illness in the family and ASI scores predicted social anxiety. The total scores of social anxiety and anxiety sensitivity did not change over a course of 10 months. ASI subscale scores were not uniform in predicting social anxiety. Conclusions: Our results have confirmed the strong relationship between anxiety sensitivity and social anxiety. Higher maternal education appeared to be a protective factor against social anxiety among males but not among females. It is apparent that a whole educational year of internship does not lead to a significant reduction in social anxiety. We also showed that the physical sensations scale of ASI is sufficient to explain the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and social anxiety. Keywords: Social phobia, Anxiety Sensitivity, Medical Education, Maternal education status
... Scores range from 0 to 72. Psychometric and structural properties of the ASI are acceptable; Cronbach's alphas for subscales range from .73 to .91 across multiple samples (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008). The ASI has demonstrated good test-retest reliability. ...
... The mean score (43.6, SD = 11.1) for the total sample on the ASI fell within the clinical range for anxiety sensitivity. Scores were comparable with those reported by samples with social phobia and panic disorder with and without agoraphobia, and also with those reported by clinical samples with specific phobias (Taylor et al., 2008). The mean for the K-MPAI was 138.4 (SD = 31.0). ...
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This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventions for music performance anxiety (MPA) aimed at reducing anxiety and improving performance quality. A cognitive behavioural therapy intervention was developed based on an existing empirically-supported treatment Chilled (Rapee et al., 2006), focusing on cognitive, physiological and behavioural symptoms. The second treatment, anxiety sensitivity reduction, targeted primarily physiological symptoms and included relaxation strategies. Interventions were administered in a workshop format over one day with four intervention sessions, preceded by a pedagogic practice skills session that functioned as a control/placebo intervention. A quasi-experimental group randomization design compared the interventions in a heterogeneous sample of community musicians. Sixty-eight participants completed measures of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, depression, and MPA. Participants performed four times (pre- and post-placebo, post-treatment and follow-up) and were assessed for state anxiety and performance quality at each performance. Results indicated that both interventions offered moderately significant gains for the musicians: anxiety was reduced and performance quality improved after each intervention and changes were maintained at follow-up. Anxiety sensitivity reduction showed a trend to exceed the CBT-based interventions, but a larger, higher-powered study is needed to confirm this advantage.
... için ekonomik dayanak olmaya yatkın olarak görüldüğü için tüm bu özellikler cinsiyet rolü çatışması ihtimalini taşımaktadır. AD'nin zaman içinde değişebileceği iddia edilmiş ise de (Schmidt ve ark. 2000, Broman-Fulks ve ark. 2009); yayınlanan meta analizlere ve ikiz çalışmalarına göre bir kişilik özelliği olarak kavramsallaştırılması daha uygundur (Taylor ve ark. 2008, Naragon-Gainey 2010, Mantar ve ark. 2011. ...
... bir eğitim ve beceri gerektiriyor olması akla gelen ihtimallerden biridir.Bu çalışma, anksiyete duyarlılığı ve sosyal anksiyete arasındaki ilişkiyi etkileyen etkenleri araştıran az sayıdaki çalışmadan birisidir. Anksiyete duyarlılığının kişisel bir özellik olduğu ve zamanla değişmeyeceği düşünülmüş ve çok sayıda çalışma ile bu görüş desteklenmiştir(Taylor ve ark. 2008, Naragon-Gainey 2010, Mantar ve ark. 2011. Bulgularımız literatüre uygun olarak, bu değişmezliği desteklemiştir. Bulgularımız anksiyete duyarlılığının sosyal anksiyetenin güçlü bir yordayıcısı olduğunu, bu yordayıcılığın zaman içinde ve cinsiyet grupları içinde büyük değişikliğe uğramadığını göstermektedir. Bu ilişkinin zaman ve cinsiye ...
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Objective: Although there are studies on the effects of gender and time on social anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, there is no consensus on how these variables moderate the relationship between the two. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the last year of medical school on social anxiety and to determine the predictors of social anxiety, focusing mainly on gender and anxiety sensitivity. Methods: The study was conducted at two time points. Demographic Information Questionnaire, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) were given to medical school students at Time 1 (n=153): beginning of 6th year of medical school; and at Time 2 (n=130): end of the 6th year. Results: Male gender predicted social anxiety at Time 1 but not at Time 2. Maternal education negatively predicted social anxiety in males; no prediction was observed for females. Psychiatric illness in the family and ASI scores predicted social anxiety. The total scores of social anxiety and anxiety sensitivity did not change over a course of 10 months. ASI subscale scores were not uniform in predicting social anxiety. Conclusions: Our results have confirmed the strong relationship between anxiety sensitivity and social anxiety. Higher maternal education appeared to be a protective factor against social anxiety among males but not among females. It is apparent that a whole educational year of internship does not lead to a significant reduction in social anxiety. We also showed that the physical sensations scale of ASI is sufficient to explain the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and social anxiety.
... Quantitative genetic analyses indicate patterns of heritability that vary depending on age, methods of assessment, and subtypes or categories of anxiety. Broad measures of anxiety sensitivity in children (Eley, Gregory, Clark, & Ehlers, 2007) and adults (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008), as well as self-reported anxiety symptoms in childhood (Warren, Schmitz, & Emde, 1999), show significant genetic influences and few shared environmental influences. ...
... Findings of significant heritability for AC in early adolescence were consistent with previous twin studies of AC in middle childhood (Lemery-Chalfant et al., 2008) and late adolescence and early adulthood (Yamagata et al., 2005), as well as modest heritability from ages 9 to 12 in an adoption study of attention (Gagne et al., 2003). Relatedly, patterns of heritability for our anxiety phenotypes were similar to those for previous behavior genetic studies of broad anxiety variables across age (e.g., Eley et al., 2007;Taylor et al., 2008;Trzaskowski et al., 2012;Warren et al., 1999;Zavos et al., 2012). When focusing on the specific types of anxiety, heritabilities are also similar to those from previous studies. ...
Article
We investigated the etiology of attentional control (AC) and four different anxiety symptom types (generalized, obsessive-compulsive, separation, and social) in an adolescent sample of over 400 twin pairs. Genetic factors contributed to 55% of the variance in AC and between 43 and 58% of the variance in anxiety. Negative phenotypic associations between AC and anxiety indicated that lower attentional ability is related to increased risk for all 4 anxiety categories. Genetic correlations between AC and anxiety phenotypes ranged from -.36 to -.47, with evidence of nonshared environmental covariance between AC and generalized and separation anxiety. Results suggest that AC is a phenotypic and genetic risk factor for anxiety in early adolescence, with somewhat differing levels of risk depending on symptomatology.
... Another core trait of SA individuals, which may be implicated in their isolation, is anxiety sensitivity (Schmidt, Zvolensky, & Maner, 2006). It is considered temperamental, since it develops early and is genetically influenced (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008), and shows associations with other early predictors of anxiety such as behavioural inhibition, introversion and neuroticism (Viana & Gratz, 2012). Anxiety sensitivity (AS) represents a fear of anxiety-related sensations, stemming from beliefs about their potential negative consequences (Cox, Borger, Taylor, Fuentes, & Ross, 1999), and is therefore related to stress intolerance. ...
... However, when testing alternative models, AS was indeed a significant predictor of loneliness, which seemed to be significantly mediated by SA. Thus, it may be that a more accurate ordering of these two variables is of anxiety sensitivity preceding SA in development, which may in fact be the case, as this trait is believed to be temperamental (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008), similar to behavioural inhibition, while SA develops later in adolescence and youth. Thus, youth who are fearful about the harmful consequences of anxiety are likely to become lonely to the degree that they develop SA symptoms (perhaps as a consequence of family and peer experiences), an interpretation which needs to be substantiated through longitudinal research. ...
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Aim This investigation examined the association between social anxiety and loneliness, and the role of associated characteristics specifically self-esteem, social skills and anxiety sensitivity, among young adults in Cyprus, and potential gender differences in the prediction of perceived loneliness. Method Questionnaires on loneliness, social skills, anxiety sensitivity and self-esteem were administered to a college sample in Cyprus. Results Mediated regression supported full mediation by social skills and self-esteem, but not by anxiety sensitivity in the association between social anxiety and loneliness. For men, loneliness was mostly predicted by anxiety sensitivity, but among women by poor social skills and lower self-esteem. For neither gender were these effects moderated by social anxiety level. Conclusion Social anxiety and loneliness are related but distinct constructs. Interventions focusing on social skill acquisition and practice, and anxiety tolerance for men may improve confidence and ultimately result in decreased loneliness among youth.
... Given that environmental factors may vary across cultures, crosscultural studies in AS manifestations and in instruments devised to assess AS are recommended. Indeed, even though the influence of genetic factors in the etiology of AS has been confirmed (Stein et al., 1999;Taylor et al., 2008), both empirical (Taylor et al., 2008) and retrospective Scher and Stein, 2003) studies have bolstered the role of environmental factors in AS development. For example, although a few studies found that AS is associated in the same way with anxiety and related disorders across socio-cultural contexts (Zvolensky et al., 2001(Zvolensky et al., , 2003Bernstein et al., 2006;Taylor et al., 2007), symptom perception and expression may be affected by cultural variability (Kirmayer et al., 1995). ...
... Given that environmental factors may vary across cultures, crosscultural studies in AS manifestations and in instruments devised to assess AS are recommended. Indeed, even though the influence of genetic factors in the etiology of AS has been confirmed (Stein et al., 1999;Taylor et al., 2008), both empirical (Taylor et al., 2008) and retrospective Scher and Stein, 2003) studies have bolstered the role of environmental factors in AS development. For example, although a few studies found that AS is associated in the same way with anxiety and related disorders across socio-cultural contexts (Zvolensky et al., 2001(Zvolensky et al., , 2003Bernstein et al., 2006;Taylor et al., 2007), symptom perception and expression may be affected by cultural variability (Kirmayer et al., 1995). ...
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Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) is defined as the fear of anxiety and of arousal-related bodily sensations, arising from erroneous beliefs that these sensations will have adverse consequences. AS plays a key role both in the onset and in the maintenance of several disorders, particularly anxiety disorders. To date, only two studies on American samples have examined the bifactor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3); therefore, findings on different cultures are needed. The main purpose of the present study was to assess the factor structure and psychometric properties of the ASI-3 in an Italian community sample. Participants were recruited from the general population (N = 1507). The results of a series of confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the bifactor structure fitted the data better than the most commonly accepted structure for the measure and that it was invariant across gender. Moreover, the current study provided evidence regarding the ASI-3’s reliability and its convergent and divergent validity. Lastly, results pertaining incremental validity of the ASI-3 Physical and Cognitive Concerns subscales above and beyond the total showed that the former was not associated with a measure of physiological anxiety, whereas the latter was weakly associated with a measure of worry. Findings suggest that the ASI-3 is comprised of a dominant general factor and three specific independent factors; given the dominance of the general factor, the use of the ASI-3 total score as a measure of the general fear of anxiety is recommended in both clinical and research settings.
... A community sample was appropriate for this study because (a) OC symptoms are common in nonclinical samples, (b) symptoms in such samples have similar form and content to symptoms in OC disorder, and (c) clinical and nonclinical samples have similar patterns of heritability (Abramowitz et al., 2014). Previous twin studies, including studies conducted by our research group, have shown that twins recruited in the manner as in this study are no different from people in the general population in terms of demographics, personality traits, and clinical variables (Barnes and Boutwell, 2013;Jang, Livesley, and Vernon, 2000;Johnson et al., 2002;Jang et al., 2006;Taylor et al., 2008). Previous research has identified no evidence of selfselection biases that might significantly impact behavioral-genetic psychopathology research (Johnson et al., 2002;Neale and Maes, 2004;Jang, 2005). ...
... The overrepresentation of MZ twins, as compared to DZ twins, is consistent with previous twin studies, and has not been found to impact the pattern of twin results (Jang, 2005). Previous research from our twin registry indicates that the assumption of equal environments was met for our MZ and DZ twins (Taylor et al., 2008). ...
... Physical symptoms refer to the physical dimension of anxiety sensitivity (Rodriguez et al., 2004); the individual's fear of being recognized by society refers to the social dimension of anxiety sensitivity (Taylor, 1995). Individuals may find it difficult to focus their minds or control their thoughts and may experience intellectual disability as a result (Taylor et al., 2008). This situation expresses the cognitive dimension of anxiety sensitivity. ...
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his study examines the mediation role of life satisfaction and resilience variables in the relationships between anxiety sensitivity and perceived stress. The data was collected with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Life Satisfaction Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Brief Psychological Resilience Scale from 347 university students (Mage = 23.15, SD = 5.15; 70% girls, 30% boys). The analyses were examined by structural equation modeling using AMOS 24. The findings suggest that students with high anxiety sensitivity and perceived stress have low resilience and life satisfaction levels. More importantly, resilience and life satisfaction were found to have partial mediation. As a result, it is seen that anxiety sensitivity has a significant effect on reducing perceived stress by increasing students’ resilience and life satisfaction. Therefore, this situation facilitates decreased anxiety levels, greater satisfaction with life, and more robust mental health.
... Two individuals may perceive a particular event differently, and this perception depends on their evaluation of the situation, with anxiety sensitivity influencing this evaluation (Byers et al., 2023;Dizaj Khalili et al., 2023;Lee et al., 2023). Consequently, studies have shown that anxiety sensitivity is a significant vulnerability factor in the development and maintenance of psychological disorders (Taylor et al., 2008). Anxiety sensitivity is acquired through genetics and learning, leading to biases in the marketing and processing of information related to anxiety-triggering symptoms (Byers et al., 2023;Wheaton et al., 2012). ...
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Objective: Although most young individuals transition from adolescence successfully and without encountering significant issues, there can be challenges and obstacles during this period that prevent the full utilization of one's abilities and potential. The present study aimed to model anxiety sensitivity based on early maladaptive schemas and cognitive emotion regulation strategies with the mediating role of parenting styles. Methods and Materials: This research is of a correlational type. The sample included 100 mothers of first-grade students from the city of Shiraz during the 2018-2019 academic year, selected through multi-stage cluster sampling. The sample size, based on Kline's (2010) criterion, was determined by selecting five individuals per item, resulting in a selection of 570 participants. Data were collected using the Taylor and Cox Revised Anxiety Sensitivity Index, the short form of Young's Early Maladaptive Schemas Questionnaire, the Garnefski and Kraaij Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Diana Baumrind's Parenting Styles Questionnaire. To obtain preliminary information on the measured variables, statistical indices such as mean and standard deviation, as well as the correlation matrix of the variables, were calculated. SPSS and Amos software were used to analyze the data and examine the proposed research model. Findings: The results of the study indicated that parenting styles played a mediating role in the relationship between exogenous variables (maladaptive schemas, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and adaptive emotion regulation strategies) and anxiety sensitivity. Conclusion: Given the impact of maladaptive schemas on psychological disorders, it is recommended that schema therapy workshops be held for all patients suffering from depression and anxiety.
... Greater symptom severity also leads to poorer quality of life in women with these conditions (Altemus et al., 2014;Maeng and Milad, 2015), an outcome driven by regulation of symptoms across the menstrual cycle in some individuals (Green and Graham, 2022). Interestingly, heritability estimates from both twin and genome-wide association studies indicate increased heritability of anxiety disorders in women compared to men (Duncan et al., 2018;Taylor et al., 2008), as well as strong associations between genetic diversity in sex hormone signaling and anxiety disorder risk (Levey et al., 2020). This clinical reality suggests that cycling ovarian hormones may interact with genetic composition to promote susceptibility and resilience to anxiety disorders. ...
Preprint
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental illnesses worldwide, exhibit high heritability, and affect twice as many women as men. To evaluate potential interactions between genetic background and cycling ovarian hormones on sex differences in susceptibility to negative valence behaviors relevant to anxiety disorders, we assayed avoidance behavior and cued threat memory dynamics in gonadally-intact adult male and female mice across four common inbred mouse strains: C57Bl/6J, 129S1/SVlmJ, DBA/2J, and BALB/cJ. Independent of sex, C57Bl/6J mice exhibited low avoidance but high threat memory, 129S1/SvlmJ mice high avoidance and high threat memory, DBA/2J mice low avoidance and low threat memory, and BALB/cJ mice high avoidance but low threat memory. Within-strain comparisons revealed reduced avoidance behavior in the high hormone phase of the estrous cycle (proestrus) compared to all other estrous phases in all strains except DBA/2J, which did not exhibit cycle-dependent behavioral fluctuations. Robust and opposing sex differences in threat conditioning and extinction training were found in the C57Bl/6J and 129S1/SvlmJ lines, whereas no sex differences were observed in the DBA/2J or BALB/cJ lines. C57Bl/6J males exhibited enhanced acute threat memory, whereas 129S1/SvlmJ females exhibited enhanced sustained threat memory, compared to their sex-matched littermates. These effects were not mediated by estrous cycle stage or sex differences in active versus passive defensive behavioral responses. Our data demonstrate that core features of behavioral endophenotypes relevant to anxiety disorders, such as avoidance and threat memory, are genetically driven yet dissociable and can be influenced further by cycling ovarian hormones.
... However, our results could be explained more plausibly by a compensatory response to deal with excessive sensitivity to respiratory stimuli. Anxiety sensitivity is a personality trait with genetic heritability that confers susceptibility to PD by amplifying fear of anxiety-related sensations [33,34]. An animal study demonstrated that TDAG8 knock-out mice showed less severe CO 2 -evoked panic-like responses than wild-type mice. ...
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Few studies report the microglia involvement in the pathogenesis of panic disorder (PD), although the crucial role of microglia in other neuropsychiatric diseases is being emphasized. In addition, there is no report to characterize the phenotypic and functional levels of PD patient-derived microglia to find their clinical relevance. Herein, we used a model to induce patient-derived microglia-like cells (iMGs) to clarify the molecular characteristics and function of PD-iMGs. We established iMGs from 17 PD patients and 16 healthy controls (non-psychiatric controls, HC). PD-iMGs showed increased T-cell death-associated gene-8 expression per the proposal of a previous in vivo study. In addition, we found that patient-derived iMGs showed reduced phagocytosis and increased TREM2 expression. We analyzed the phenotype of the PD-iMGs by RNA sequencing. The PD-iMGs clustered together distinct from HC-iMGs. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of cholesterol biosynthesis and steroid metabolism in PD-iMGs. Regarding the cholesterol synthesis pathway, we discovered ACAT2 and DHCR7 as the most impacted genes related to a character of PD-iMGs compared to HC-iMGs. The ACAT2, a major cholesterol esterifier, was increased in PD-iMGs. Nevertheless, PD-iMGs did not show lipid droplet accumulation. Interestingly, ACAT2 expression was inversely correlated with the severity of depression and anxiety sensitivity to publicly observable anxiety reactions. We propose that microglia of PD patients have unique characteristics with dysregulation of cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and impaired phagocytosis, reflecting clinical phenotype. Translational Psychiatry (2023) 13:48 ; https://doi.
... While the amygdala-LC pathway is critical for creating aversive memories, the LC-mPFC pathway is crucial to extinguishing aversive memories, suggesting that this is an important division between flow and PTSD. Additionally, pharmacological targeting of the LC-NE pathways in both the amygdala and mPFC has provided symptomatic relief for people suffering from PTSD (Taylor et al., 2008). ...
Article
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Flow is a cognitive state that manifests when there is complete attentional absorption while performing a task. Flow occurs when certain internal as well as external conditions are present, including intense concentration, a sense of control, feedback, and a balance between the challenge of the task and the relevant skillset. Phenomenologically, flow is accompanied by a loss of self-consciousness, seamless integration of action and awareness, and acute changes in time perception. Research has begun to uncover some of the neurophysiological correlates of flow, as well as some of the state’s neuromodulatory processes. We comprehensively review this work and consider the neurodynamics of the onset of the state, considering large-scale brain networks, as well as dopaminergic, noradrenergic, and endocannabinoid systems. To accomplish this, we outline an evidence-based hypothetical situation, and consider the flow state in a broader context including other profound alterations in consciousness, such as the psychedelic state and the state of traumatic stress that can induce PTSD. We present a broad theoretical framework which may motivate future testable hypotheses.
... Physically, the individual is afraid of having a heart attack and experiencing shortness of breath (Rodriguez et al., 2004;Watt & Stewart, 2000). In the cognitive dimension of anxiety sensitivity, the individual thinks that she will have difficulty focusing her mind or controlling her thoughts (Taylor et al., 2008). The social dimension of anxiety sensitivity includes fears about being noticed by the society (Taylor, 1995). ...
Article
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In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationships between individuals' levels of internet addiction, procrastination, perceived social support and anxiety sensitivity levels. The study group consisted of 358 participants (278 women 80 men). The data were collected using Demographic Information Form, Young Internet Addiction Test Short Form, Procrastination Tendency Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3. Correlational analysis was used to determine the relations among variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether the independent variables predicted internet addiction. Procrastination (β= .38), social support (β=-.11), and anxiety sensitivity (β= .33) predicted internet addiction at a statistically significant level. It can be inferred considering this finding that, the regression model which involves procrastination, social support, and anxiety sensitivity predicts 31% of internet addiction. Individuals who are lonely have higher levels of internet addiction than those who have a statistically significant relationship, and their perceived social support levels are lower than those who have a statistically significant relationship. Based on the findings some suggestions were made.
... In other words, volunteers with anxious personalities might be prone to developing a variety of stress-induced psychopathologies. However, the etiology of anxiety is very complex [35] . Both genetic variants and environmental factors have been associated with anxiety disorders [36] . ...
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Background Mental health of university volunteers is essential for the successful holding of essential meetings and sports games. The impact of personality traits on the mental symptoms of university volunteers is not well studied. The study objective is to assess personality traits as predictors of mental symptoms in university volunteers in China. Method We carried out a cross-sectional study. The study sample consisted of volunteers from sixteen main universities in the city of Hangzhou. The OQ-45 scale was used to evaluate mental symptoms and the PHI was used for the measurement of personality traits. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to study relationships between personality factors and mental symptoms. Results Estimation of personality traits revealed higher scores on subscales of hypomania, depression, and psychopathic deviance. The OQ-45 scale identified 1.4% of volunteers as having psychological disorders. PHI scores were positively correlated with scores on the OQ-45 scale (P < 0.01). Anxiety was correlated particularly strongly with interpersonal relationship score and total OQ-45 score (r = 0.6, P < 0.05). Furthermore, we found that personality traits could influence the explicit mental symptoms of the volunteers. Volunteers with traits of anxiety and depression reported a significant impact on their mental symptoms. Conclusions The OQ-45 and PHI scales can be used to screen volunteers with mental symptoms. Inner personality traits could be used to predict the mental symptoms of volunteers in China. Our results might assist organizers of future conferences and games in selecting appropriate university volunteers.
... Research demonstrating enhanced sensitivity to 35% CO2 among family members of those with panic disorder suggests a heritable physiologic risk factor for panic (Perna et al. 1995). Twin studies have also shown that what may also be inherited in panic disorder is anxiety sensitivity, a fear of anxiety-related sensations (Stein et al. 1995;Taylor et al. 2008). Feeling suddenly scared for no reason and spells of terror or panic may be the phenotypic expression of this heritability. ...
Article
Background : Evidence suggests that depression and anxiety disorders are genetically based. Although symptoms of these internalizing disorders tend to correlate, the degree to which the related symptoms are heritable is unclear. This overlap has been conceptualized as Anxious Misery and existing research examining similar constructs of negative affect has revealed moderate heritability. However, it is unclear if some symptoms that characterize these constructs are more heritable than others. Modeling the symptom structure of Anxious Misery and examining which symptoms are most heritable may have implications for etiological models of internalizing disorders. Accordingly, the present study employed network analysis to explore the relationships across symptoms of Anxious Misery and to test if central symptoms in the network, compared to more peripheral symptoms, differ in their heritabilities. Methods : Twin pairs (N = 1,344 pairs) with a mean age of 39 years (SD = 16 years) completed measures of anxiety and neuroticism to represent the Anxious Misery network. Results : Panic-related symptoms were the most central in the network and were the most heritable, with genetic factors accounting for up to 59% of phenotypic variance. Peripheral symptoms were less heritable, accounting for as little as 21% of phenotypic variance. The degree of symptom heritability was strongly correlated with the degree of centrality of a symptom in the network (r = .53). Limitations : Reliance on two self-report measures to represent Anxious Misery limits the generalizability of the findings. Conclusions : Central and peripheral symptoms of an Anxious Misery network may differ in degree of heritability.
... Similar to Taylor et al. (2008), whose study revealed a 20-45% (Schmidt, 2003). ...
Article
Objective: Despite established comorbidity between anxiety and disordered eating (DE), and a plethora of research using various methodologies to examine this overlap, use of twin modeling to expose whether a shared genetic liability underpins these conditions remains rare. Method: Data from a longitudinal sample of female twins were selected: measures of risk for DE from Wave 1 (N = 699, 351 pairs, aged 12-15 years), and the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) and Children's Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) from Wave 2 (N = 669, 338 pairs, aged 16-19 years). At this time, they also completed Children's Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI). Bivariate Cholesky decomposition models adjusting for age and body mass index centile investigated the covariance structure between the CASI and EDE. Results: Modeling both genetic and nonshared environmental influences parsimoniously fit these data. All paths were significant. Additive genetic influences were notable for CASI and EDE phenotypes; 14% of the heritable variance was contributed by CASI to the expression of EDE. There was also a smaller but significant contribution of nonshared environmental influences. A multinomial logistic regression indicated body dissatisfaction (RRR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.07-2.18) differentiated groups with highest EDE scores from the highest CASI scores. Discussion: Shared genetic and environmental influences appear to underpin the relationship, and potentially the observed comorbidity, between anxiety sensitivity and DE. The age of onset is typically earlier for anxiety than DE, suggesting a significant opportunity for early intervention work to reduce the likelihood of subsequent development of DE.
... The interaction of anxiety antecedents, and specifically the awareness of physiological symptoms, may contribute to exacerbating cognitive components of anxiety. Indeed, it is established from the anxiety sensitivity literature that perceiving arousal sensations (e.g., HR) as negative, can lead to anxiety symptoms more akin to cognitive anxiety such as fear and other negative thoughts (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008). Furthermore, evidence has shown that exposing individuals to these arousal sensations in the absence of fear (i.e., exercise) can reduce anxiety levels (McEntee & Halgin, 1999). ...
Article
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Background: Acute psychological stress elicits increases in heart rate (HR) and anxiety. Theories propose associations between HR, perceived HR, and anxiety during stress. However, anxiety is often measured as a unidimensional construct which limits a comprehensive understanding of these relationships. Objectives: This research explored whether HR reactivity or perceived HR change was more closely associated with cognitive and somatic anxiety during acute psychological stress. Design: Two laboratory-based studies were conducted. Methods: In a single laboratory session, healthy male (N = 71; study 1) and female (N = 70; study 2) university students completed three laboratory psychological stress tasks (counterbalanced), each with a preceding baseline. Heart rate, perceived HR change, and cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity and interpretation of anxiety symptoms were assessed immediately following each task. Data were aggregated across tasks. Results: Actual HR change was unrelated to anxiety intensity, but was associated with more debilitative interpretations of anxiety (study 2). Perceptions of HR change were consistently associated with greater intensity of cognitive (study 1) and somatic (study 1 and 2) anxiety. Conclusions: Perceived HR rather than actual HR is more closely associated with anxiety intensity during psychological stress. The findings have implications for stress management and the clinical treatment of anxiety symptoms.
... Angstsensitivität , vorwiegend bei Frauen (Jang, Stein, Taylor, & Livesley, 1999) und bei stark ausgeprägter Angstsensitivität (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008). ...
Thesis
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In einer Studie mit 60 Patienten mit Panikstörung und einer aus 60 gesunden Probanden bestehenden Kontrollgruppe wurde eine standardisierte kognitive Verhaltenstherapie mit Psychoedukation und Expositionsübungen durchgeführt. Zu verschiedenen Zeitpunkten wurde mittels Fragebögen die Angstsensitivität (ASI) und allgemeine Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung (GSE) gemessen. Weiterhin wurden Daten zu angstbezogenen Kognitionen (ACQ) und die Anzahl der Panikattacken pro Woche erhoben. Patienten mit Panikstörung wiesen zu Beginn eine niedrigere allgemeine Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung und eine höhere Angstsensitivität auf als gesunde Probanden. Nach der Psychoedukation kam es zu einer Reduktion der Angstsensitivität, nach der Exposition zu einem Anstieg der Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung bei der Patientengruppe. Die Patientengruppe erreichte außerdem einen Rückgang der angstbezogenen Kognitionen. Die Anzahl der Panikattacken veränderte sich nicht signifikant. Die Veränderung von mit der GSE-Skala gemessener Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung durch standardisierte kognitive Verhaltenstherapie bei Panikstörung wurde in der vorliegenden Studie erstmals beschrieben. Es wurde gezeigt, dass durch eine standardisierte kognitive Verhaltenstherapie bei Patienten mit Panikstörung neben einer Reduktion der Angstsensitivität nicht nur, wie bereits bekannt, die panikbezogene Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung gesteigert werden kann, sondern auch die allgemeine Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung. Die Veränderungen wurden außerdem hinsichtlich des Angstsensitivitäts-Responderstatus untersucht. Patienten, die bezüglich der Angstsensitivität mehr als 50 % Verbesserung zeigten (ASI-Responder), zeigten nach der Therapie keinen signifikanten Unterschied mehr zu den Werten von Angstsensitivität, allgemeiner Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung und angstbezogenen Kognitionen der Kontrollgruppe. Bei den ASI-Respondern fanden der signifikante Anstieg des GSE-Werts und der Rückgang des ACQ-Werts bereits nach der Psychoedukation statt. In zukünftigen Studien sollten Unterschiede zwischen ASI-Respondern und ASI-Non-Respondern sowie weitere Maßnahmen zur Reduktion von Angstsensitivität und zur Stärkung der Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung mit dem Ziel der Prävention und Therapie von Angsterkrankungen untersucht werden.
... One mechanism that has received recent attention is the notion that physical activity may serve as a form of interoceptive exposure for individuals with high anxiety sensitivity (AS; Asmundson et al., 2013;Broman-Fulks, Berman, Rabian, & Webster, 2004). AS refers to the fear of aversive internal states and associated beliefs that such sensations precipitate harmful outcomes (e.g., Reiss, Peterson, Gursky, & McNally, 1986;Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008) and is known to be composed of three lower order factors representing fears of physical, psychological, and social consequences of anxiety. AS is conceptualized as a relatively stable individual characteristic influenced by a combination of genetic diathesis and learning experiences that lead one to perceive arousal sensations as dangerous (Craske & Rowe, 1997;Stein, Jang, & Livesley, 1999). ...
Article
The anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of regular physical exercise have been well documented, though the mechanisms through which exercise alleviates symptoms of emotion disorders require further investigation. Mounting research indicates that exercise reduces anxiety sensitivity, a known vulnerability factor for the development and maintenance of psychological disorders, presumably via repeated exposure to feared somatic sensations. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether anxiety sensitivity mediates the relation between exercise frequency and symptoms of anxiety and depression. A large community sample of 955 volunteers completed a demographic questionnaire, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index‐3, and the Brief Symptom Inventory‐18. Exercise frequency significantly predicted anxiety sensitivity, anxiety, depression, and somatization scores. Mediation analyses indicated that anxiety sensitivity mediated the association between exercise frequency and anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms. The findings provide further support for the association between exercise and negative affective states and suggest that anxiety sensitivity may be one mechanism through which exercise reduces emotional disorder symptomology. The implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.
... While there may be a clear rationale for how genetic variation within the HPA axis influences stress responsiveness, either alone or in combination with CT, studies of HPAlinked genes as risk factors for the development of anxiety have produced inconsistent results (Bortoluzzi et al. 2015). This may be partially explained by both gender-specific effects in genetic predisposition for AS, as well as the influence of ethnicity in gene-environment (G x E) interactions on anxiety (Kumsta et al. 2007;Taylor et al. 2008;Xie et al. 2010;Mahon et al. 2013). We therefore sought to examine the association between SNPs in CRHR1, NR3C1 and FKBP5, as well as their interaction with CT, on AS, in a population characterised by high levels of trauma (Williams et al. 2007;Seedat et al. 2009). ...
Article
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Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is characterised by the fear of anxiety-related symptoms and is a risk factor for the development of anxiety-related disorders. We examined whether genetic variation in three stress response genes, CRHR1, NR3C1, and FKBP5, interact with childhood trauma (CT) to predict AS in South African adolescents. Xhosa (n = 634) and Coloured (n = 317) students completed self-report measures of AS and CT, and a total of eighteen polymorphisms within CRHR1, NR3C1, and FKBP5 were genotyped. Differences in AS based on genetic variation and CT were analysed within population and gender groups using multiple linear regression. Associations were found between AS and FKBP5 rs9296158 (p = 0.025) and rs737054 (p = 0.045) in Coloured males. Analysis of gene x CT interactions indicated that NR3C1 rs190488 CC-genotype, NR3C1 rs10482605 G-allele addition, and FKBP5 rs3800373 C-allele addition protect against AS with increasing CT in Xhosa females (p = 0.009), Xhosa males (p = 0.036) and Coloured males (p = 0.049), respectively. We identified two different protective single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) combinations in a four-SNP CRHR1 haplotype in Coloured males. An analysis of the interaction between CT and a six-SNP FKBP5 haplotype in Coloured males revealed both protective and risk allelic combinations. Our results provide evidence for the influence of both genetic variation in CRHR1, NR3C1 and FKBP5, as well as CT x SNP interactions, on AS in South African adolescents. This study reinforces the importance of examining the influence of gene-environment (G X E) interactions within gender and population groups.
... In other words, the basis of individuals" avoidance of any event or incidence they fear consists of anxiety expectancy and anxiety sensitivity (Reiss & McNally, 1985). The anxiety expectancy is an expectancy of an individual about the anxiety he will face in an incidence (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008). The anxiety sensitivity a basic fear regarding that the symptom related with anxiety which has a characteristic specific to individual and shows continuity may have physically and socially harmful results (Erözkan, 2012;Reiss & McNally, 1985). ...
Article
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The aim of present study was to investigate the relationships among self-efficacy, e-victimization, e-bullying and anxiety sensitivity in adolescents. To achieve research aims, two different researches were conducted. The research group in study 1, designed as a correlational research, consisted of 225 adolescents ranged in age between 11 and 17 with a mean age of 12.32 (SD = 1.10), 114 female (50.7%) and 111 male (49.3%). Additionally, study 2 was carried with 237 adolescents ranged in age between 14 and 18 with a mean age of 15.86 (SD = .89), 181 female (76.4%) and 56 (23.6%). The Self-Efficacy Scale for Children (SES-C), The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), The E-Victimization Scale (E-VS) and The E-Bullying Scale (E-BS) were used to as measures. Pearson " s product-moment correlation coefficient and simple linear regression analyses were used in the data analysis. The results show that anxiety sensitivity was not correlated with academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, emotional self-efficacy and e-victimization (Study 1). In study 2, it was found that anxiety sensitivity was negatively correlated with emotional self-efficacy. Moreover, anxiety sensitivity was not associated with academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy and e-bullying. Overall, emotional self-efficacy accounted for 5% of total variance of anxiety sensitivity.
... Epidemiological evidence indicates that women are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders than men (Michael, Zetsche & Margrafe, 2007) showing higher prevalence, more symptoms (Lewinhson, Gotlib, Lewinhson, Seeley, & Allen, 1998), greater distress, service seeking, impairment and illness burden (Yonkers & Gurguis, 1995). Women are also characterized by higher anxiety sensitivity (Stewart, Taylor, & Baker, 1997;Walsh, Stewart, McLaughlin & Comeau, 2004), a diathesis factor for anxiety pathology (Schmidt, Zvolensky, & Maner, 2006;Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008), which refers to having concerns about the consequences of anxiety symptoms themselves, (Reiss, 1991). Yet few theoretical explanations of gender differences in anxiety have been proposed (Pigott, 1999) and to-date none seem to fully explain these statistics. ...
Article
To-date no models adequately address the higher vulnerability of women to anxiety pathology, in contrast to other disorders, such as depression where ruminative thinking has been identified as accounting for women's greater risk. This investigation examines the hypothesis that gender differences in coping, with women relying more on specific types of avoidance, may in part explain women's anxiety risk. Coping, experiential avoidance, anxiety symptoms, anxiety sensitivity and perceived stress due to life stressors were assessed in a community sample (N=456). Women were more likely to meet clinical screening cut-offs for anxiety disorders, report more symptoms and experience greater anxiety sensitivity than men. They also reported greater reliance on avoidant coping and experiential avoidance, which were associated with increased anxiety. Gender moderated coping effects so that the coping style that mostly differentiated women from men in predicting anxiety was behavioral disengagement. To the contrary, self-reported stress due to life events did not significantly explain anxiety gender effects as no significant moderation by gender was observed. Results suggest that greater reliance on avoidance, especially behavioral avoidance, may be associated with increased vulnerability to anxiety specifically among women.
... Previous research of participants enrolled in the UBC twin study has shown that they are similar to general population samples in terms of symptom and personality variables, and that the assumption of equal environments was supported (i.e. MZ twins are treated no differently from DZ twins by parents, teachers, or others) [7]. ...
... In particular, research is needed to examine the utility of theoretical models linking temperamental and cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety (Pérez-Edgar et al. 2010;White et al. 2011). In this vein, research suggests that AS develops early (Taylor 1999), has strong genetic underpinnings (Taylor et al. 2008), is a risk factor for the development of anxiety problems (Hayward et al. 2000), and is significantly correlated with indices of anxious temperament (Arden and Linford 2009;Hagopian and Ollendick 1996). Knowledge about the relationship between BI and NA dimensions and AS would increase understanding of the impact of temperament on known cognitive vulnerabilities for childhood anxiety. ...
Article
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This study examined the role of anxiety sensitivity as an explanatory variable in the link between two temperamental dimensions (i.e., behavioral inhibition and negative affect) and anxiety disorder symptom severity in a sample of children with anxiety disorders. Forty-four children (52 % African American) between 8 and 12 years of age and their mothers participated in this study. An assessment battery consisting of diagnostic interviews, questionnaires, and behavioral assessment of behavioral inhibition was administered. Findings revealed that anxiety sensitivity was a significant explanatory variable linking child self-reports of behavioral inhibition and negative affect to anxiety disorder symptom severity. For parent-completed measures, only direct effects of behavioral inhibition on anxiety disorder symptom severity were found. The clinical implications of our findings, including the importance and feasibility of anxiety sensitivity and behavioral inhibition assessments as part of routine clinical care of children with anxiety disorders are discussed, along with the limitations of our study.
... Wood, et al. (2007) stressed that parental control of their children may be frightening and insecure, so this negative level of control may get the child inassertive and cause a sense of anxiety. Taylor, Jang, Stewart and Stein (2008) emphasized that hereditary factors, learning experiences and personal factors are all crucial determinants of high social anxiety. ...
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... Whereas low AS individuals may view such sensations as harmless and fleeting, high AS individuals tend to catastrophize about the meaning of these sensations, fearing that a rapid heartbeat signifies an impending heart attack (physical concerns), that dizziness will result in a loss of control (cognitive concerns), or that trembling will lead to social embarrassment (social concerns). Research indicates that AS is attributable to both genetic heritability (Taylor, Jang, Stewart, & Stein, 2008) and relevant learning experiences (Watt, McWilliams, & Campbell, 2005;Watt, Stewart, & Cox, 1998). ...
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A brief group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), with running as an interoceptive exposure (IE) component, was effective in reducing anxiety sensitivity (AS) levels in undergraduate women (Watt, Stewart, Lefaivre, & Uman, 2006). This study investigated whether the CBT/IE intervention would result in decreases in AS and emotional distress that would be maintained over 14 weeks. Female undergraduates, high (n = 81) or low (n = 73) in AS, were randomized to 3-day CBT plus forty-two 10-min running IE trials (n = 83) or 3-day health education control (HEC) with interactive discussions and problem solving on exercise, nutrition, and sleep (n = 71). The CBT/IE intervention led to decreases in AS, depression, and stress symptoms for high AS participants, which were maintained at 14 weeks. Unexpectedly, HEC participants experienced similar and lasting decreases in AS, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, there were no post-intervention differences between CBT/IE and HEC participants in any of the outcomes. Low AS participants experienced few sustained changes. Clinical implications and the possible role of aerobic exercise in explaining outcomes of both interventions are discussed.
... This gender differential was also seen in a study of anxiety sensitivity in 245 monozygotic and 193 dizygotic twins. Women were more influenced by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, whereas men were more influenced by environmental factors [76]. This could mean that there are gender/ genetic predispositions that interact with environmental influences. ...
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The Cambridge Handbook of International Prevention Science offers a comprehensive global overview on prevention science with the most up-to-date research from around the world. Over 100 scholars from 27 different countries (including Australia, Bhutan, Botswana, India, Israel, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and Thailand) contributed to this volume, which covers a wide range of topics important to prevention science. It includes major sections on the foundations of prevention as well as examples of new initiatives in the field, detailing current prevention efforts across the five continents. A unique and innovative volume, The Cambridge Handbook of International Prevention Science is a valuable resource for established scholars, early professionals, students, practitioners and policy-makers.
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Anxiety disorders (ADs)-including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), and specific phobia-are characterized by the anticipation of future threats, an excess of fear, and related behavioral disturbances. ADs are the most common class of mental disorders worldwide (with a lifetime prevalence of 28.8%); and may be associated with notably impaired quality of life in affected individuals. Family and twin studies provide evidence for the heritability of these disorders, ranging from 0.32 for generalized anxiety disorder, to 0.48 for panic disorder. However, candidate gene association studies largely failed to identify replicable causal or risk variants. More recently, unbiased whole-genome approaches have emphasized the polygenic nature of ADs, as well as the genetic overlap between anxiety and other disorders. In the future, pooling of resources and datasets across interdisciplinary and cross-country consortia, as well as increased representation of populations of diverse ancestry in these large-scale analyses, will be key to improved power for scientific discovery and to optimizing the translational potential of these findings.
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Evidence suggests that Disgust Sensitivity (DS) is a personality trait that may confer risk for the development of some anxiety-related disorders. To examine the origins of this trait we administered the DS subscale of the Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale-Revised to 90 monozygotic and 90 dizygotic twin pairs, of which 55% were women. The DS subscale consists of two dimensions; Somatic Disgust and Ruminative Disgust. Biometrical modeling techniques were used to estimate heritability of the DS dimensions by sex. For women, each dimension was influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. More specifically, 40.1% of the variance in DS was observed to be due to additive genetic factors and the remaining variance due to non-shared environment. Correlations among DS dimensions for women could be explained by genetic and environmental factors influencing the two dimensions. For men, the two dimensions were influenced by environmental but not genetic factors. These findings suggest that the etiology of DS is complex and arises as a function of dimension-specific and non-specific etiologic factors that vary as a function of sex. The implication of these findings for the sex differences in the etiology of some anxiety-related disorders are discussed.
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Background: Anxiety sensitivity (AS) reflects an individual's belief that experiencing anxiety will cause illness or embarrassment, and may be a reason individuals self-medicate with alcohol. Harsh or indulgent parenting could contribute to the development of AS. We examined the direct and indirect associations between parenting styles and alcohol-related variables through AS and impaired control over drinking (IC; i.e., perceived failure to adhere to limits on alcohol consumption in the future). Methods: A multiple-group structural equation model with 614 university students (344 men; 270 women) was examined. Structural invariance tests were conducted to evaluate moderation by gender. We used a bias corrected bootstrap technique to obtain the mediated effects. Results: Father authoritarianism and mother permissiveness were directly linked to AS among women, whereas father permissiveness was directly linked to AS among men. This suggests unique parental influences based on gender regarding AS. While AS was directly linked to alcohol-related problems for both men and women, several gender-specific associations were found. AS was directly linked to IC for men but not for women. For men, father permissiveness was directly related to AS, and AS mediated the indirect link between father permissiveness and IC along both the heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems pathways. Similar to other internalizing constructs (e.g., neuroticism and depression), higher AS was directly associated with less heavy episodic drinking but more alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the dangers of AS for men as an important correlate of under-controlled drinking behaviors. Additionally, permissive parenting of the same-gender parent was associated with AS, which is consistent with the gender-matching hypothesis. Together, these results underscore the importance of measuring the independent influence of both parents.
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The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between parental authority and social anxiety. The study attempted to answer the following question: Are there significant differences in social anxiety due to parental authority factors: (support, control, psychological control, emotion and accomplishment of missions)? Data was collected from 172 students of College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University. The Parental Authority Questionnaire (FAQ), and Social Anxiety Scale (SAS) were used to assess variables. To answer the study question, re- gression analysis was used. Findings indicated that there was significant relationship between parental authority and social anxiety in several domains. The findings also revealed that there were significant differences in social anxiety due to mother authority and student's gender.
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Chapter
Anxiety disorders, like depressive disorders, are quite common, with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 29% in the United States. Anxiety and depressive disorders are often comorbid, with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) having a particularly close relationship to depression. These internalizing disorders are suggested to represent an anxiety–depression spectrum, ranging from depression and GAD on one end (so-called distress disorders), to panic disorder and specific phobia on the other (“fear” disorders). Categorically defined anxiety disorders align themselves on the spectrum according to measures of distress (low positive affect and high negative affect) and fear (autonomic arousal, or fear-potentiated startle reactions). These two symptom dimensions are inversely related; thus, GAD is associated with high distress and low autonomic arousal, whereas specific phobia is characterized by lower distress and high autonomic arousal. The processing of fear-related stimuli, the emotional, behavioral, and physiologic responses to these stimuli, as well as fear conditioning, are key processes involved in pathologic anxiety. At the most general level, these processes involve the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and their hypothalamic and brainstem targets: the former receive and integrate sensory and memory information related to danger as well as trigger behavioral and physiologic responses via their output to the latter. Prefrontal regions, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, appear to mediate negative top-down control over amygdala responses. Pathologic anxiety is related to the malfunction of normal, highly adaptive fear response systems that include panic (an intense, fight or flight emergency response), anxiety (cautious assessment of possible threats), and other more circumscribed fear responses such as those associated with social threat, snakes, spiders, and other small animals. Endophenotypes identified for anxiety disorders include enhanced startle reactivity, behavioral inhibition, carbon dioxide sensitivity, anxiety sensitivity, and fear generalization. With the exception of anxiety sensitivity, all of these endophenotypes can be assessed in rodent models. A number of candidate genes have been implicated in anxiety disorders, including many associated with monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems and stress and fear responses, as well as some whose biologic function is not completely clear. Early life stress and adversity appear to program fear and stress response systems for later life responses, generally sensitizing these systems and amplifying their responses. Rodent models for anxiety disorders include those that involve fear-conditioning paradigms, experimentally applied early life stress, lines selectively bred to display increased anxiety-like behavior, and genetic manipulations of candidate gene expression. Nonhuman primates are also very informative subjects for anxiety research, since they are more similar to humans than are rodents, on a number of levels. Zebrafish, chicks, Drosophila, and Caenorhabditis elegans are also very useful model animals, each model offering its own distinct advantages.
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Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a cognitive individual difference actor involving an enduring fear of anxiety-related arousal sensations (e.g., increased heart rate) that arises from the tendency to catastrophize about these sensations, believing they will have serious psychological, physiological, and/or social consequences. AS may have particular relevance for adolescents as the onset of puberty heralds the arrival of a wide range of new and unexpected bodily sensations, as well as changes in cognitive and social development. Research has implicated AS in the development and maintenance of a number of mental health disorders in adolescents including panic disorder, social phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, substance misuse, and depression. Furthermore, AS has been shown to be composed of several lower-order factors (e.g., Physical, Social, and Psychological Concerns), which may have unique associations with psychopathology. Understanding AS will help in the identification of youth at risk for mental health problems and might have implications for prevention and intervention.
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Our instinctive emotions are those that we have inherited from a much more dangerous world, and contain, therefore, a larger portion of fear than they should. Bertrand Russell Introduction Fear and anxiety are basic emotions recognized across human cultures and among non-human animals. The evolutionary conservation of fear and anxiety across species supports the supposition that such emotions are adaptive. However, nearly one in five Americans reports problematic levels of anxiety, including diagnostic levels of panic disorder, social anxiety disorder (SAD, also known as social phobia), specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) (Kessler et al. 2005). In this chapter, we provide an overview of the evidence for the role of genetic factors in the etiology of anxiety disorders. We first briefly summarize the genetic study designs used in research on anxiety disorders. Next, we review the evidence from family, twin, and molecular genetic studies for the role of genetic factors in specific anxiety disorders. We end by discussing the genetic overlap among anxiety disorders and the intermediate phenotypes that might account for the overlap. Genetic study designs Genetic research in anxiety disorders relies on family, twin, and molecular genetic study designs. In family studies, researchers test whether risk of having the disorder is higher among family members of individuals with the disorder (called probands in genetic studies) than non-relatives.
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Several methods, mostly based on a consideration of the eigenvalues, have been previously used to determine the number of factors to retain in a factor analysis. This paper shows how split-half factor comparabilities, based on factor scores, can provide a direct and unambiguous method of determining the number of reliable factors that should be retained, and of assessing the appropriate rotation that should be used. The method is particularly appropriate for taxonomic factor analysis, where the factor scores are to be used as summary or classificatory measures. It is shown that, for respondents from non-homogenous populations, split-halves based on the sub-populations should be considered, as well as random split-halves. The discussion is supported by a number of principal components analyses, using synthetic data sets of known factor structure and an actual semantic response data bank.
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The goals of both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are described and procedural guidelines for each approach are summarized, emphasizing the use of factor analysis in developing and refining clinical measures. For exploratory factor analysis, a rationale is presented for selecting between principal components analysis and common factor analysis depending on whether the research goal involves either identification of latent constructs or data reduction. Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling is described for use in validating the dimensional structure of a measure. Additionally, the uses of confirmatory factor analysis for assessing the invariance of measures across samples and for evaluating multitrait-multimethod data are also briefly described. Suggestions are offered for handling common problems with item-level data, and examples illustrating potential difficulties with confirming dimensional structures from initial exploratory analyses are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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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)
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Aunque el índice de Sensibilidad a la Ansiedad (ASI; Reiss, Peterson, Gursky y McNally, 1986) es la escala más utilizada para la evaluación de la sensibilidad a la ansiedad (SA), su estructura aún no se conoce con precisión. En el presente estudio se analiza la estructura factorial de la versión española de la ASI con una muestra de 726 estudiantes universitarios (con un rango de edad de 18-34 años). Se ponen a prueba varios modelos alternativos, incluido un modelo factorial jerárquico. Los análisis fac-toriales exploratorios y confirmatorios indican que la ASI posee una estructura jerár-quica compuesta por 3 factores primarios y 1 factor de orden superior; los factores pri-marios se corresponden con los referidos por Zinbarg, Barlow y Brown (1997) y Stewart, Taylor y Baker (1997): SA-somática, SA-cognitiva y SA-social. No existían diferencias entre grupos de sexo. Se discuten algunas posibles implicaciones para la psicopatologia de los trastornos de ansiedad. Palabras clave; Sensibilidad a la ansiedad, ASI, trastornos de ansiedad, análisis facto-rial confirmatorio, EQS, análisis factorial jerárquico. Dimensions ofanxiety sensitivity: Confirmatory evidence for a hierarchic structure Although the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Reiss, Peterson, Gursky & McNally, 1986) is the most frequently used measure of the anxiety sensitivity construct, its dimensio-nality is yet a controversial issue. The present study examined the factor structure of the Spanish ASI in a sample of 726 university students (ranging in age from 18 to 34 years). The authors tested soma current alternative models, including a hierarchical factor model. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a hierarchical factor structure consisting of 3 lower-order factors and 1 higher-order factor; the lower-order factors were conceptually similar to the ones reported by Zinbarg, Barlow & Brown (1997) and Stewart, Taylor & Baker (1997), i.e., physical concerns, cognitive dyscontrol concerns, and social concerns. No differences were found between males and females. Some implications of these findings for psychopathology ofanxiety disor-ders are discussed.
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Bivariate twin analysis can determine the extent to which two disorders share common genetic, familial environmental, or individual-specific environmental risk factors. We applied this method to lifetime diagnoses of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder as assessed at personal interview in a population-based sample of 1033 pairs of female same-sex twins. Three definitions of generalized anxiety disorder were used that varied in minimum duration (1 vs 6 months) and in the presence or absence of a diagnostic hierarchy. For all definitions of generalized anxiety disorder, the best-fitting twin model was the same. Familial environment played no role in the etiology of either condition. Genetic factors were important for both major depression and generalized anxiety disorder and were completely shared between the two disorders. A modest proportion of the nonfamilial environmental risk factors were shared between major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Within the limits of our statistical power, our findings suggest that in women, the liability to major depression and generalized anxiety disorder is influenced by the same genetic factors, so that whether a vulnerable woman develops major depression or generalized anxiety disorder is a result of her environmental experiences.
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This article describes the computation and relative merits of likelihood-based confidence intervals, compared to other measures of error in parameter estimates. Likelihood-based confidence intervals have the advantage of being asymmetric, which is often the case with structural equation models for genetically informative studies. We show how the package Mx provides confidence intervals for parameters and functions of parameters in the context of a simple additive genetic, common, and specific environment threshold model for binary data. Previously published contingency tables for major depression in adult female twins are used for illustration. The support for the model shows a marked skew as the additive genetic parameter is systematically varied from zero to one. The impact of allowing different prevalence rates in MZ vs. DZ twins is explored by fitting a model with separate threshold parameters and comparing the confidence intervals. Despite the improvement in fit of the different prevalence model, the confidence intervals on all parameters broaden, owing to their covariance.
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The UBC Twin Project is an on-going study of personality and personality disorder that has collected personality data on approximately 1000 adult volunteer twin pairs. The primary purpose of the study is to develop and validate measures of the major forms of personality disorder as a quantitative alternative to the classificatory system first proposed by the DSM-III using the standard methods of personality and behavioural genetics research. To date, the study has explored the univariate and multivariate relationships between the major personality and personality disorder inventories, and their relationships to other psychopathologies including the mood and anxiety disorders and key psychological variables, such as cognitive ability, attachment and attitudes. The results have several implications for personality and personality disorders, most notably a rationalized diagnostic/nosological system to enhanced measurement instruments that index and reflect the influence of specific genetic and environmental influences.
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The National Academy of Sciences -- National Research Council (NAS-NRC) twin panel, created nearly 50 years ago, had twin zygosity determined primarily via a similarity questionnaire that has been estimated to correctly classify at least 95% of twins. In the course of a study on the genetics of healthy ageing in the NAS-NRC twins, DNA was collected for genome-wide scanning and zygosity confirmation was examined in 343 participating pairs. The sample was supplemented from two other studies using NAS-NRC twins where one or both co-twins were suspected to have Alzheimer disease or another dementia, or Parkinson's disease. Overall 578 twin pairs with DNA were analyzed. Zygosity assignment for 96.8% (519/536) was confirmed via questionnaire. Among 42 pairs whose questionnaire responses were inconclusive for assigning zygosity, 50% were found to be monozygous (MZ) and 50% were dizygous (DZ). There was some evidence for greater misclassification of presumed DZ pairs in the healthy ageing study where participation favored pairs who were similar in having a favorable health history and willingness to volunteer without any element of perceived risk for a specific disease influencing participation.
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This preliminary study examined the relationship between anxiety disorders and self-reported history of teasing or bullying experiences, comparing individuals with social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Given that aversive conditioning experiences, such as severe teasing, have been proposed to play a role in the development of social phobia and that the core feature of social phobia is a fear of social situations in which a person may be embarrassed or humiliated, we hypothesized that the social phobia group would have a higher rate of self-reported teasing history than would the obsessive compulsive disorder or panic disorder groups. Consistent with this hypothesis, a relationship between reported history of teasing and diagnosis was found. A significantly greater percentage of participants in the social phobia group (92%) reported a history of severe teasing experiences compared with the obsessive compulsive disorder (50%) and panic disorder (35%) groups. History of teasing experiences was also significantly related to an earlier age of onset for all 3 anxiety disorders, and to a greater number of self-reported additional problems in childhood. These findings suggest further directions for research in this area and highlight the significant link between perceptions of teasing in childhood and social phobia.
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We report a comprehensive analysis of gene expression differences between sexes in multiple somatic tissues of 334 mice derived from an intercross between inbred mouse strains C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ. The analysis of a large number of individuals provided the power to detect relatively small differences in expression between sexes, and the use of an intercross allowed analysis of the genetic control of sexually dimorphic gene expression. Microarray analysis of 23,574 transcripts revealed that the extent of sexual dimorphism in gene expression was much greater than previously recognized. Thus, thousands of genes showed sexual dimorphism in liver, adipose, and muscle, and hundreds of genes were sexually dimorphic in brain. These genes exhibited highly tissue-specific patterns of expression and were enriched for distinct pathways represented in the Gene Ontology database. They also showed evidence of chromosomal enrichment, not only on the sex chromosomes, but also on several autosomes. Genetic analyses provided evidence of the global regulation of subsets of the sexually dimorphic genes, as the transcript levels of a large number of these genes were controlled by several expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) hotspots that exhibited tissue-specific control. Moreover, many tissue-specific transcription factor binding sites were found to be enriched in the sexually dimorphic genes.
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The University of British Columbia (UBC) Twin Project is a registry of approximately 1500 pairs of reared-together twins recruited from Vancouver, British Columbia and surrounding municipalities. The focus of the project is to examine personality and its disorders from a behavioral genetic perspective. The primary measures include self-report measures of variables from the major models of personality and personality disorders. Subsamples of the study have also been surveyed on a wide range of psychiatric conditions and symptoms, including, for example, substance use, mood, anxiety, coping, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizotypy, and several measures of the environment and experience. Also surveyed are general health and basic psychological processes including cognitive ability. This broad assessment has enabled us to examine not only the structure of personality, but also its potential role in psychopathology and other psychological processes. A feature of the project is that the measures selected reflect current thinking in the field as opposed to traditional psychiatric diagnostic criteria. The UBC Twin Project has been used in a number of collaborative projects on personality and psychopathology with other world-wide twin registries. At the present time, no DNA has been collected; however the facility to collect these data is available. Collaborative projects on this and future questionnaire studies are welcome.
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This study represents an effort to better understand the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity (AS), as indexed by the 16-item Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; S. Reiss, R. A. Peterson, M. Gursky, & R. J. McNally, 1986), by using taxometric and factor-analytic approaches in an integrative manner. Taxometric analyses indicated that AS has a taxonic latent class structure (i.e., a dichotomous latent class structure) in a large sample of North American adults (N=2,515). As predicted, confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a multidimensional 3-factor model of AS provided a good fit for the AS complement class (normative or low-risk form) but not the AS taxon class (high-risk form). Exploratory factor analytic results suggested that the AS taxon may demonstrate a unique, unidimensional factor solution, though there are alternative indications that it may be characterized by a 2-factor solution. Findings suggest that the latent structural nature of AS can be conceptualized as a taxonic latent class structure composed of 2 types or forms of AS, each of these forms characterized by its own unique latent continuity and dimensional structure.
Article
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Accumulating evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (fear of arousal-related sensations) plays an important role in many clinical conditions, particularly anxiety disorders. Research has increasingly focused on how the basic dimensions of anxiety sensitivity are related to various forms of psychopathology. Such work has been hampered because the original measure--the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI)--was not designed to be multidimensional. Subsequently developed multidimensional measures have unstable factor structures or measure only a subset of the most widely replicated factors. Therefore, the authors developed, via factor analysis of responses from U.S. and Canadian nonclinical participants (n=2,361), an 18-item measure, the ASI-3, which assesses the 3 factors best replicated in previous research: Physical, Cognitive, and Social Concerns. Factorial validity of the ASI-3 was supported by confirmatory factor analyses of 6 replication samples, including nonclinical samples from the United States and Canada, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain (n=4,494) and a clinical sample from the United States and Canada (n=390). The ASI-3 displayed generally good performance on other indices of reliability and validity, along with evidence of improved psychometric properties over the original ASI.
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.
Book
Preface. List of Figures. List of Tables. 1. The Scope of Genetic Analyses. 2. Data Summary. 3. Biometrical Genetics. 4. Matrix Algebra. 5. Path Analysis and Structural Equations. 6. LISREL Models and Methods. 7. Model Fitting Functions and Optimization. 8. Univariate Analysis. 9. Power and Sample Size. 10. Social Interaction. 11. Sex Limitation and GE Interaction. 12. Multivariate Analysis. 13. Direction of Causation. 14. Repeated Measures. 15. Longitudinal Mean Trends. 16. Observer Ratings. 17. Assortment and Cultural Transmission. 18. Future Directions. Appendices: A. List of Participants. B. The Greek Alphabet. C. LISREL Scripts for Univariate Models. D. LISREL Script for Power Calculation. E. LISREL Scripts for Multivariate Models. F. LISREL Script for Sibling Interaction Model. G. LISREL Scripts for Sex and GE Interaction. H. LISREL Script for Rater Bias Model. I. LISREL Scripts for Direction of Causation. J. LISREL Script and Data for Simplex Model. K. LISREL Scripts for Assortment Models. Bibliography. Index.
Chapter
This chapter discusses behavioral genetics research into the etiology of anxiety. It outlines top-down and bottom-up family study designs, as well as twin, sibling, and adoption studies. The chapter also discusses research into anxiety phenotypes (fear and phobia symptoms, anxiety symptoms, anxiety and depression symptoms, separation anxiety disorder (SAD), and overanxious disorder (OAD), and draws conclusions about the genetic influence on anxiety in childhood.
Article
New discoveries about the genetic underpinnings of many kinds of human experience are now continually being made. This book explores the impact of these discoveries on the ways in which the common mental disorders are best conceptualized and treated. Most people think of research in genetics as the search for genes. This is only one focus of effort, and even with the reliable identification of susceptibility genes, the clinical applications of their discovery, such as gene therapies and new drug development, are a long way off. For the present, the impact of genetic research on our understanding of mental illness is tied to our ability to estimate the effect of all genes by means of family, twin, and adoption studies. The results of these studies challenge some deeply cherished ideas and theories, and support others. Of course, the effect of genes is only half the equation. The role of experience, environment, and living conditions accounts for as much, often considerably more, of the variability in psychopathology. In this book, Kerry Jang attempts not to answer questions about what is "genetic" and what is not, but about what a knowledge of the relative influence of genes versus environment means at a psychological level of analysis--to show how it changes common assumptions about classification, etiology, diagnosis, and intervention. He first offers an overview of contemporary behavioral genetics, dispels common misconceptions, responds to the criticisms that have been leveled at this new field, and describes in basic terms how genetic and environmental effects are estimated and how susceptibility genes are pinpointed. He then points to new directions in which standard nosological systems are likely to evolve as new information about vulnerabilities and covariances emerges. Finally, he synthesizes and evaluates the consistency of the last decade's findings for the most common categories of psychopathology that have been studied by behavior geneticists: mood, personality, and anxiety disorders, substance abuse; and schizophrenia and the psychotic disorders. Clinicians and researchers alike need to understand the genetic influences on the feelings and behaviors they are seeking to change or study if they are to be effective in their work. The Behavioral Genetics of Psychopathology: A Clinical Guide empowers them with this understanding. © 2005 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
The goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; S. Reiss, R. A. Peterson, D M. Gursky, & R. J. McNally, 1986) and the replicability, reliability, and validity of its dimensions in a nonclinical sample. One-thousand-and-seventy-one undergraduate volunteers completed the ASI and a modified version of the Panic Attack Questionnaire (PAQ; G. R. Norton, J. Dorward, & B. J. Cox, 1986). A principal components analysis, using oblique rotation and parallel analysis, yielded three ASI dimensions that were highly consistent with those reported in previously published studies. Individuals classified as nonclinical panickers scored higher than nonpanickers on the Physical Concerns and Cognitive Concerns subscales of the ASI. Although spontaneous panic attacks were not significantly related to scores on any ASI scale, the occurrence of panic attacks in the past month was related to higher scores on the Cognitive Concerns subscale. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive theories of panic, and limitations of the present study and directions for future research are addressed.
Article
Reviews the book, Genes and behavior: Nature-nurture interplay explained by M. Rutter (see record 2006-01387-000). Surveying developments in behavior genetics, Michael Rutter provides an integrative synthesis in writing that is both important and timely. The book aims to offer a nontechnical account of the "various ways in which genetic influences on behavior may be important." To do so, Rutter reviews what is known of environmental influences and how genes and environments might work across development. The book is effectively organized. A first group of five chapters is devoted to quantifying the strength of genetic and environmental influences and illustrating study designs that do so. A second group of three chapters discusses specific genes known to influence behavior outcomes and offers a readable discussion of how such genes might actually work during behavioral development. Before a final summary, there are two provocative chapters; one discussing the role of GE interaction and correlation, and another focused on what environments can do to gene expression. This highly readable and largely nontechnical book provides the reader with insightful understanding of contemporary behavior genetic research. It deserves to be widely read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
The purpose of this book is to begin the ambitious task of "true diagnostics," standing on the shoulders of taxometric theory, by reviewing taxometric studies, analyzing several large new data sets, and trusting in the future cooperation and enterprise of psychologists and others who read this book. The book begins with a review of the nature of classification procedures by highlighting some of its main problems and controversies. In chapter 2, the evolution of our current diagnostic system--the DSM--is discussed and the central argument is advanced. The authors suggest that for the DSM to continue to advance, we must begin to scientifically determine the underlying nature of these diagnostic entities through the use of procedures such as taxometrics. Chapter 3 offers a detailed analytic primer on the nature of taxometrics. The primer is written in a user-friendly manner so clinicians and others not familiar with the underlying mathematics associated with taxometrics can gain a full understanding of the importance and utility of these procedures. Chapter 4 is specifically focused on outlining a method by which taxometric procedures can be applied to diagnostic entities within the DSM. The final two chapters provide a review of the current taxometrics literature and the degree to which it has been applied to specific psychopathological entities (e.g., schizophrenia spectrum, anxiety, eating disorders). In summary, this book represents a "call to action" to revolutionize the diagnostic system. The point of this book is not that a diagnostic revolution has occurred; it is that it can and should occur and that, to a degree, it is occurring. Through this book, the authors hope to stimulate this enterprise by describing it, summarizing its initial progress, and contributing toward it. The enterprise, although difficult, is clearly feasible (within years not decades), if a core of psychological scientists join the fray. One of the main purposes of the book is to invite them to contribute to this cause. (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
A central idea in personality theory is that events in childhood have an effect on the development of personality. The present study applied models of gene–environment interaction that demonstrate how environmental conditions may moderate genetic variability in a population and/or the influence of other environmental effects. Results showed that perceived levels of family conflict and maternal indulgence moderated the genetic influences underlying emotional instability, a central feature of borderline personality disorder. The analyses identified a wide variety of environmental influences that moderate the variability in the liability to emotional instability, such as perceived levels of parental bonding, family functioning, and exposure to nonassaultive traumatic events. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Article
ABSTRACT A taxon is a nonarbitrary class whose existence is conjectured as an empirical question, not a mere semantic convenience. Numerous taxa are known to exist in nature and society (chemical elements, biological species, organic diseases, geological strata, kinds of stars, elementary particles, races, cultures, Mendelizing mental deficiencies, major psychoses, vocations, ideologies, religions). What personality types, if any, occur in the nonpathological population remains to be researched by sophisticated methods, and cannot be settled by fiat or “dimensional” preference. The intuitive concept of taxonicity is to be explicated by a combination of formal-numerical and causal criteria. Taxometric methods should include consistency tests that provide Popperian risk of strong discorroboration. In social science, latent class methods are probably more useful than cluster algorithms.
Article
Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety-related sensations arising from beliefs that these sensations have harmful physical, psychological, or social consequences. AS is measured using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), a 16-item self-report questionnaire. Little is known about the origins of AS, although social learning experiences (including sex-role socialization experiences) may be important. The present study examined whether there were gender differences in: (a) the lower- or higher-order factor structure of the ASI; and/or (b) pattern of ASI factor scores. The ASI was completed by 818 university students (290 males; 528 females). Separate principal components analyses on the ASI items of the total sample, males, and females revealed nearly identical lower-order three-factor structures for all groups, with factors pertaining to fears about the anticipated (a) physical, (b) psychological, and (c) social consequences of anxiety. Separate principal components analyses on the lower-order factor scores of the three samples revealed similar unidimensional higher-order solutions for all groups. Gender × AS dimension analyses on ASI lower-order factor scores showed that: females scored higher than males only on the physical concerns factor; females scored higher on the physical concerns factor relative to their scores on the social and psychological concerns factors; and males scored higher on the social and psychological concerns factors relative to their scores on the physical concerns factor. Finally, females scored higher than males on the higher-order factor representing the global AS construct. The present study provides further support for the empirical distinction of the three lower-order dimensions of AS, and additional evidence for the theoretical hierarchical structure of the ASI. Results also suggest that males and females differ on these various AS dimensions in ways consistent with sex role socialization practices.
Article
The purposes of this article are to summarize the author's expectancy model of fear, review the recent studies evaluating this model, and suggest directions for future research. Reiss' expectancy model holds that there are three fundamental fears (called sensitivities): the fear of injury, the fear of anxiety, and the fear of negative evaluation. Thus far, research on this model has focused on the fear of anxiety (anxiety sensitivity). The major research findings are as follows: simple phobias sometimes are motivated by expectations of panic attacks; the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) is a valid and unique measure of individual differences in the fear of anxiety sensations; the ASI is superior to measures of trait anxiety in the assessment of panic disorder; anxiety sensitivity is associated with agoraphobia, simple phobia, panic disorder, and substance abuse; and anxiety sensitivity is strongly associated with fearfulness. There is some preliminary support for the hypothesis that anxiety sensitivity is a risk factor for panic disorder. It is suggested that future researchers evaluate the hypotheses that anxiety and fear are distinct phenomena; that panic attacks are intense states of fear (not intense states of anxiety); and that anxiety sensitivity is a risk factor for both fearfulness and panic disorder.
Article
Self-regulation is a complex process that involves consumers’ persistence, strength, motivation, and commitment in order to be able to override short-term impulses. In order to be able to pursue their long-term goals, consumers typically need to forgo immediate pleasurable experiences that are detrimental to reach their overarching goals. Although this sometimes involves resisting to simple and small temptations, it is not always easy, since the lure of momentary temptations is pervasive. In addition, consumers’ beliefs play an important role determining strategies and behaviors that consumers consider acceptable to engage in, affecting how they act and plan actions to attain their goals. This dissertation investigates adequacy of some beliefs typically shared by consumers about the appropriate behaviors to exert self-regulation, analyzing to what extent these indeed contribute to the enhancement of consumers’ ability to exert self-regulation.
Article
The agreement between zygosity diagnosis in twins by reference to the twins' own answers to written questions and diagnosis based on an objective assessment of zygosity by blood-typing is studied for 178 pairs of same sex twins. Seventy-two female and 106 male twin pairs answered two questions concerning their similarity in appearance and frequency of confusion in childhood, and were blood-grouped using up to 23 different antisera. Of those pairs concordant for all markers and diagnosed as MZ, 98% agreed that they were confused in childhood and that they are alike in physical appearance. Only 55% of those pairs discordant for at least one marker and classified as DZ agreed that they were never confused and are not alike in appearance. The replies of the remaining 45% are spread over all the other combinations of responses. If all twins who agree that they were confused in childhood and are alike in appearance were to be classified as MZ on the basis of the questionnaire alone, and all others as DZ, the diagnoses of only seven pairs out of the total 178 (3–9%) would disagree with those based on blood group data.
Article
A multiple regression model for the analysis of twin data is described in which a cotwin's score is predicted from a proband's score and the coefficient of relationship (R=1.0 and 0.5 for identical and fraternal twin pairs, respectively). This model is especially appropriate for the analysis of data on twins in which one member of each pair has been selected because of a deviant score, e.g., low reading performance. When the model is fitted to such data, the partial regression of the cotwin's score on the coefficient of relationship provides a powerful test of the extent to which the difference between the mean for probands and that for the unselected population is heritable, i.e., a test for genetic etiology. By fitting an augmented model containing an interaction term to either selected or unselected data sets, direct estimates of heritability and the proportion of variance due to shared environmental influences can also be obtained (subject, of course, to the usual assumptions underlying twin analyses, e.g., a linear polygenic model, little or no assortative mating, and equal shared environmental influences for identical and fraternal twins).
Article
In attempting to explain the familial predisposition to panic disorder, most studies have focused on the heritability of physiologic characteristics (e.g., CO2 sensitivity). A heretofore unexplored possibility is that a psychological characteristic that predisposes to panic-anxiety sensitivity-might be inherited. In this study, the authors examined the heritability of anxiety sensitivity through use of a twin group. Scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index were examined in a group of 179 monozygotic and 158 dizygotic twin pairs. Biometrical model fitting was conducted through use of standard statistical methods. Broad heritability estimate of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index as a unifactorial construct was 45%. Additive genetic effects and unique environmental effects emerged as the primary influences on anxiety sensitivity. There was no evidence of genetic discontinuity between normal and extreme scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index. This study suggests that one psychological risk factor for the development of panic disorder-anxiety sensitivity-may have a heritable component. As such, anxiety sensitivity should be considered in future research on the heritability of panic disorder.
Article
The present study utilized an exploratory factor-analytic approach (i.e. principal-components analysis; PCA) to investigate whether the Social Concerns component of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI [Peterson, R. A., & Reiss, S. (1992). Anxiety Sensitivity Index manual (2nd ed.). Worthington, OH: International Diagnostic Systems.]) is best conceptualized as belonging to the domain of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and/or the domain of negative evaluation sensitivity (NES). A sample of university students (N = 216) was administered measures of both NES (i.e. Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation scale; Leary, 1983) and AS (i.e. ASI). Participants' responses to the items comprising these measures were subjected to a PCA with oblique rotation. Factors representing the NES construct and the three lower-order AS constructs (i.e. AS Physical, Psychological and Social Concerns) were obtained. Subscales derived from these four factors were positively and significantly correlated with one another and loaded on a single higher-order factor labeled Threat Sensitivity. Thus, the present findings suggest that the AS Social Concerns factor is distinct from NES and the other lower-order components of AS. However, correlational analyses and higher-order PCA indicated that the AS Social Concerns factor taps a blend of AS and NES as well as something unique and distinct from both global AS and NES.
Article
We examine the hypothesis that environmental transmission is a significant factor in individual differences for Neuroticism among 45,850 members of extended twin kinships from Australia (N = 20,945) and the United States (N = 24,905). To this large data set we fitted a model estimating genetic and environmental components of variance and gene-environmental covariance to examine the causes of individual differences in Neuroticism. For the combined sample we reject models including environmental transmission, shared environment, and a special twin environment in favor of more parsimonious genetic models. The best-fitting model involved only modest assortative mating, nonshared environment, and both additive and nonadditive genetic components. We conclude, first, that there is no evidence for environmental transmission as a contribution to individual differences in Neuroticism in these replicated samples, drawn from different continents, and, second, that a simple genetic structure underlies familial resemblance for the personality trait of Neuroticism. It is interesting that, despite the opportunity provided by the elaborate design and extensive power of our study, the picture revealed for the causes of individual differences in Neuroticism is little more complex than that found from earlier, simpler designs applied to smaller samples. However, this simplicity could not have been confirmed without using a highly informative design and a very large sample.