Anxiety sensitivity and depression: How are they related?

Abstract

Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of anxiety-related bodily sensations, which arises from beliefs that the sensations have harmful somatic, psychological, or social consequences. Elevated anxiety sensitivity, as assessed by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), is associated with panic disorder. The present study investigated the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and depression. Participants were people with panic disorder (n = 52), major depression (n = 46), or both (n = 37). Mean ASI scores of each group were elevated, compared to published norms. Principal components analysis revealed 3 factors of anxiety sensitivity: (a) fear of publicly observable symptoms, (b) fear of loss of cognitive control, and (c) fear of bodily sensations. Factors 1 and 3 were correlated with anxiety-related measures but not with depression-related measures. Conversely, factor 2 was correlated with depression-related measures but not with anxiety-related measures.

Factor structure and construct validity of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index among island Puerto Ricans

“…It should be noted, however, that the magnitude of these correlations were smaller than those found between the ASI and trait anxiety scales. Furthermore, previous investigations have found that the STAI-T contains elements of both anxiety and depression (Bieling, Antony, & Swinson, 1998;Schmidt, Lerew, & Joiner, 1998;Taylor, Koch, Woody, & McLean, 1996). Thus, it may be possible that the measures employed cannot accurately differentiate between anxiety and depression.…”

Dimensiones de la sensibilidad a la ansiedad : evidencia confirmatoria de la estructura jerárquica

“…Por ejemplo, mientras que la SA-somática parece estar más relacionada con el trastorno de pánico (Zinbarg et al, 1997;Brown, Smits, Pow^ers y Telch, 2003), la SA-social presenta una relación más estrecha con el la fobia social (Zinbarg et al, 1997). Así mismo, se ha sugerido que la SA-cognitiva presenta una cierta asociación con la depresión mayor (Taylor, Koch, Woody y McLean, 1996). En segundo lugar, el hecho de que exista una estructura jerár-quica, y en concreto un factor general de SA, podría plantear dudas sobre la conveniencia de utilizar la puntuación total de la ASI como medida del constructo general (unitario) de SA.…”

Analysis of the Relations between Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms and Anxiety Sensitivity in Adolescents with Structural Equation Modeling

“…Mantar, Yemez ve Alkın (2011) ise anksiyete duyarlılığını bireyin kişilik yapısında bulunan ve süreklilik gösteren bir korku hali olduğunu ileri sürmüşlerdir. Taylor, Koch ve Woody (1996) ise anksiyete duyarlılığını, bireyin yaşadığı temel anksiyete belirtilerine korkuyla şiddetli bir şekilde tepki verme eğilimi olarak tanımlamışlardır.…”