Findings from University of Toronto, Center for Addiction and Mental Health in anxiety disorders therapy reported
2007 SEP 17 -- New research, "Anxiety sensitivity within the anxiety disorders: disorder-specific sensitivities and depression comorbidity," is the subject of a report. According to recent research published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy, "The tendency to perceive anxious states as aversive and harmful is hypothesized to confer vulnerability to the development of anxiety disorders. The most commonly used measure of anxiety sensitivity, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index [ASI; Reiss, S., Peterson, R.A., Gursky, D.M., & McNally R.J. (1986)." "Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency, and the prediction of fearfulness. Behavior Research and Therapy, 24, 1-8], is composed of multiple lower-order factors, assessing fear of physical symptoms, fear of publicly observable anxious symptoms, and fear of cognitive dyscontrol. This study examined the convergent validity of the lower-order anxiety sensitivity dimensions in DSM-IV diagnosed anxiety disorders. Participants with primary diagnoses of panic disorder with agoraphobia, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) completed the ASI and measures of anxiety and depression severity. Support was found for the convergent validity of all ASI dimensions in reference to thematically related anxiety disorders and in the identification of patients presenting with and without secondary major depressive disorder (MDD). The ASI-fear of cognitive dyscontrol dimension displayed strong and nonredundant associations with GAD, dimensional depression scores, and secondary diagnoses of MDD," wrote N.A. Rector and colleagues, University of Toronto, Center for Addiction and Mental Health. The researchers concluded: "The conceptual implications of the shared importance of fear of cognitive dyscontrol in GAD and MDD are discussed." Rector and colleagues published their study in Behaviour Research and Therapy (Anxiety sensitivity within the anxiety disorders: disorder-specific sensitivities and depression comorbidity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2007;45(8):1967-75). For additional information, contact N.A. Rector, University of Toronto, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada, Mood and Anxiety Program, Clarke Site, Toronto, ONT, Canada. The publisher's contact information for the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy is: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd., the Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. Keywords: Canada, Toronto, Anxiety Disorders Therapy, Anxiety Disorder, Behavior, Depression, Mental Health, Psychiatry. This article was prepared by Mental Health Weekly Digest editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Mental Health Weekly Digest via NewsRx.com.
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