title: Direct and Mediating Effects of an Anxiety Sensitivity Intervention on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Trauma-Exposed Individuals.
abstract: Anxiety sensitivity (AS), or fear of anxious arousal, is a higher-order cognitive risk-factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) composed of lower-order physical, cognitive, and social concerns regarding anxiety symptoms. Brief and effective interventions have been developed targeting AS and its constituent components. However, there is limited evidence as to whether an intervention aimed at targeting AS would result in reductions in PTS symptoms and whether the effects on PTS symptoms would be mediated by reductions in AS. Furthermore, there is no evidence whether these mediation effects would be because of the global or more specific components of AS. The direct and indirect effects of an AS intervention on PTS symptoms were examined in a sample of 82 trauma-exposed individuals (M age = 18.84 years, SD = 1.50) selected based on elevated AS levels (i.e., 1 SD above the mean) and assigned to either a treatment (n = 40) or an active control (n = 42) condition. Results indicated that the intervention led to reductions in Month 1 PTS symptoms, controlling for baseline PTS symptoms. Furthermore, this effect was mediated by changes in global AS and AS social concerns, occurring from intervention to Week 1. These findings provide an initial support for an AS intervention in amelioration of PTS symptoms and demonstrate that it is primarily reductions in the higher-order component of AS contributing to PTS symptom reduction.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Florida State University , Tallahassee , FL 32306-4301 , USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Allan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Florida State University , Tallahassee , FL 32306-4301 , USA.
authors.forename: Nicole A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Short
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Florida State University , Tallahassee , FL 32306-4301 , USA.
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Albanese
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center , 325 Ninth Avenue, PS-5035 Box 359911, Seattle , WA 98104 , USA.
authors.forename: Meghan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Keough
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Florida State University , Tallahassee , FL 32306-4301 , USA.
authors.forename: Norman B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy; D008297:Male; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: anxiety/anxiety disorders; posttraumatic stress disorder; trauma; treatment