Relationship between the dimensions of anxiety sensitivity and the symptoms of anxiety in clinical and non-clinical populations

Abstract

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a cognitive vulnerability to anxiety. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) was developed to measure anxiety sensitivity but has gone through a number of revisions. The latest version, based on Australian clinical and non-clinical populations, is referred to as the ASI-21. It consists of 21 items comprising of four factors relating to the Fear of Respiratory symptoms dimension , Fear of Cardiovascular/Stroke symptoms dimension, Fear of Publicly Observable symptoms dimension and Fear of Cognitive Dyscontrol symptoms dimension. The current study aimed to explore the relationship between the dimensions of AS and the reported physiological, cognitive and phobic symptoms of anxiety in both a clinical and non-clinical population. A series of regression analyses revealed that although all dimensions had some association with the physiological, cognitive and phobic symptoms, one dimension the Fear of Cognitive Dyscontrol had the strongest relationship with symptoms of anxiety for both populations.