Anxiety sensitivity: Prospective prediction of panic attacks and Axis I pathology☆
Section snippets
Overview of study design
These data are derived from a primary prevention study that included both an experimental and a prospective design. “At risk” participants (i.e., those with high AS) with no current or recent psychiatric illness were randomly assigned to a risk reduction or control condition and followed for approximately 24 months. The experimental manipulation was modeled after educational and behavioral procedures commonly used with patients with anxiety disorders (Schmidt and Woolaway-Bickel, 2000). This
Sample characteristics and preliminary analyses
The final sample included an initial assessment of 404 participants. Of those, approximately 73% completed at least one follow-up evaluation (n = 295). The primary outcomes of interest were any diagnoses endorsed during either of the follow-up interviews. The total n for various analyses varies to some degree depending on missing data. Participants dropping out of the study did not differ from completers in terms of baseline demographics, trait anxiety, AS, or experimental condition (ps > .10).
Diagnostic history and psychopathology at baseline
The
Discussion
Expectancy theory proposes that AS may serve as a premorbid risk factor for the development of anxiety pathology (Reiss, 1991). Empirical evidence for AS as a risk factor for Axis I diagnoses is scant, with the exception being Maller and Reiss’s (1992) three-year follow-up study. The present study provided a more definitive prospective test of whether AS acts as a dispositional risk factor for clinical syndromes. For example, the current study used a substantially larger sample, controlled for
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This project was supported by the Ohio Department of Mental Health research grant (737111) and by a National Institute Mental Health Grant (MH62056) to Dr. Schmidt. It also was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse research Grants (1 R21 DA016227-01 and 1 R01 DA018734-01A1) awarded to Dr. Zvolensky and a National Institute of Mental Health Grant (MH72848) to Dr. Maner.