Randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a brief intervention targeting anxiety sensitivity cognitive concerns.

Abstract

Despite the brevity of the treatment intervention, findings demonstrate that it resulted in substantial reductions in AS cognitive concerns that were linked with symptom improvement.

Anxiety sensitivity as a mechanism for gender discrepancies in anxiety and mood symptoms

“…Studies have repeatedly shown that brief interventions can reliably reduce AS (Keough and Schmidt, 2012;Schmidt et al, 2007;Smits et al, 2008;Watt et al, 2006), and that these interventions result in both reduced risk of the development of psychopathology (e.g., Schmidt et al, 2007) as well as reduced current symptoms (e.g., Norr et al, 2014a;Schmidt et al, 2014). Future research should first determine whether AS interventions differentially impact AS across gender.…”

“…Seventy-seven percent of the sample met criteria for a current DSM-IV Axis-I diagnosis based on a diagnostic interview conducted at baseline. For a more detailed description of the diagnostic information or the intervention and study design please see Schmidt et al (2014). The specific findings from the current study have not been presented elsewhere.…”

Examining the unique relations between anxiety sensitivity factors and suicidal ideation and past suicide attempts

“…Recent studies have not only demonstrated that AS is a malleable risk factor that can be targeted through brief (one-session) interventions (Keough and Schmidt, 2012;Schmidt et al, 2014), but also that reductions in AS through these interventions lead to subsequent reductions in psychopathology, including depression, and suicidal ideation . Indeed, a recent intervention targeting AS cognitive concerns not only reduced AS, but also subsequently reduced depression and suicidal ideation through reductions in AS cognitive concerns.…”

Loneliness and Anxiety Sensitivity: Understanding Behavioural Avoidance in the Lonely

“…The practice of controlling for trait anxiety may in some cases obscure the true effects of AS [16]. Alternatively, this finding may reflect that AS seems to be most influential at pathological levels [19,26]. Further detailed investigation is needed to determine the role of AS in socially embedded individuals.…”

“…Further AS, an established risk factor may lead to various forms of psychopathology. It has physical, social, and cognitive aspects, with indications that these components may have differential adverse outcomes [19].…”