title: Interactive effect of negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity in terms of mental health among Latinos in primary care.
abstract: From a public health perspective, primary care medical settings represent a strategic location to address mental health disapirty among Latinos. Yet, there is little empirical work that addresses affective vulnerability processes for mental health problems in such settings. To help address this gap in knowledge, the present investigation examined an interactive model of negative affectivity (tendency to experience negative mood states) and anxiety sensitivity (fear of the negative consequences of aversive sensations) among a Latino sample in primary care in terms of a relatively wide range of anxiety/depression indices. Participants included 390 Latino adults (Mage=38.7, SD=11.3; 86.9% female; 95.6% reported Spanish as first language) from a primary care health clinic. Primary dependent measures included depressive, suicidal, social anxiety, and anxious arousal symptoms, number of mood and anxiety disorders, and disability. Consistent with prediction, the interaction between negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity was significantly related to suicidal, social anxiety, and anxious arousal symptoms, as well as number of mood/anxiety diagnoses and disability among the primary care Latino sample. The form of the interactions indicated a synergistic effect, such that the greatest levels of each outcome were found among those with high negative affectivity and high anxiety sensitivity. There was a trending interaction for depressive symptoms. Overall, these data provide novel empirical evidence suggesting that there is a clinically-relevant interplay between anxiety sensitivity and negative affectivity in regard to the expression of anxiety and depressive symptoms among a Latino primary care sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: mjzvolen@central.uh.edu.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zvolensky
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bakhshaie
authors.affiliation: Legacy Community Health Services, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garza
authors.affiliation: Legacy Community Health Services, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ochoa-Perez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Medvedeva
authors.affiliation: Psychotherapeutic Area of "Asociación Ayuda", Anxiety Disorders Clinic, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bogiaizian
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Zuzuky
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Norman B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D000067657:Pessimism / Q000523:psychology*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods
keywords: Anxiety sensitivity; Health disparity; Latinos; Mental health; Negative affectivity; Primary care; disability