The relationship between anxiety sensitivity and obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions.
OBJECTIVE
Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the tendency to fear arousal-related body sensations based on beliefs that they are dangerous, is a cognitive vulnerability factor for certain anxiety symptoms such as panic and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Very little research, however, has examined the relationship between AS and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, which was the objective of the current research.


METHODS
We administered dimensional measures of AS and OC symptoms to a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 636). We also included measures of general distress and cognitive distortions related to OCD (i.e., obsessive beliefs) as control variables.


RESULTS
Regression analyses indicated that AS was predictive of OC symptoms even after controlling for general distress and obsessive beliefs. In addition, the three domains of AS (physical, social, and cognitive concerns) were differentially associated with the four dimensions of OC symptoms (contamination, responsibility for harm, symmetry, and unacceptable thoughts).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings are based on a non-clinical student sample and their generalization to OCD requires replication with a sample of OCD patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These results provide preliminary evidence that AS plays a role in OC symptoms. Implications for clinical practice and for future research are discussed.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Michael G
MG
Wheaton
Brittain
B
Mahaffey
Kiara R
KR
Timpano
Noah C
NC
Berman
Jonathan S
JS
Abramowitz
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology