Anxiety sensitivity or interoceptive sensitivity: An analysis of feared bodily sensations.

The construct of anxiety sensitivity (AS) – the fear of anxiety-related symptoms – has been highly influential in current conceptualizations of anxiety disorders in general, and panic disorder specifically. However, given documented associations between AS and both non-anxiety psychological disorders as well as medical/health conditions , the extent to which measures of AS are assessing a specific fear or anxiety symptoms versus a broader fear of interoceptive or bodily sensations is unclear. Confirmatory factor analysis of data from 373 participants failed to suggest whether fears of anxiety-related symptoms were factorially disti nct from fears of non-anxiety-related bodily sensations, although analyses indicated that while fears of anxiety-related symptoms were more closely associated with panic disorder severity than were fears of non-anxiety-related symptoms, both were similarly and strongly associated with hypochondriaca l fears. Implications for the construct of AS, and the broader construct of somatic fears, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: European Journal of Psychological Assessment - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Source Type: research