title: Unexpected arousal, anxiety sensitivity, and their interaction on CO₂-induced panic: further evidence for the context-sensitivity vulnerability model.
abstract: The present experiment tested several predictions derived from the context-sensitivity vulnerability model of panic. Participants (N=79) scoring either high or low in anxiety sensitivity (AS) and with no history of unexpected panic were randomly assigned to one of two instructional sets: expected arousal (EA) or expected relaxation (ER). All participants were administered inhalation of room air and 35% CO(2) in a counterbalanced order. Consistent with theoretical predictions, High-AS participants who received ER instructions showed greater emotional responding compared to High-AS participants who received EA instructions, while instructional set did not affect responding among Low-AS participants. Panic attacks were observed in 52% of the High-AS-ER group compared to 17%, 5%, and 5% in the High-AS-EA, Low-AS-ER, and Low-AS-EA groups respectively. These findings are consistent with the theory's assertion that dispositional tendencies, such as anxiety sensitivity potentiate the panicogenic effects of threat-relevant context variables.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety Disorders, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. Telch@Austin.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Telch
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.forename: Jasper A J
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.forename: Mark B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Powers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010200:Panic / Q000502:physiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide