https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8455-2715
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ABSTRACT
Background
Fatigue sensitivity, or the misattribution that fatigue symptoms will lead to negative personal consequences, is one individual difference factor related to adverse behavioral health consequences.
Methods
The current study investigated whether fatigue sensitivity was related to panic symptoms, depression, as well as fatigue severity among 166 persons of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds with severe fatigue.
Results
As hypothesized, fatigue sensitivity was statistically significantly related to greater panic symptoms, general depression, and fatigue severity. These results were evident over the variance explained by age, sex, neuroticism, and somatic symptoms.
Conclusions
This work is the first to evaluate fatigue sensitivity in terms of behavioral health outcomes among a racial/ethnically diverse sample with severe fatigue.
Acknowledgement
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the University of Houston under Award Number U54MD015946. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This work was also supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse [F31 DA051199].
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Kara Manning
Kara Manning is a doctoral student in the University of Houston's Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She received her Master of Arts degree in May of 2019 in Clinical Psychology. To date, she has published aver 50 peer reviewed articles and has attended multiple professional conferences around the world. Her research program includes fatigue and substance use disorders among adult populations, as well as understanding transdiagnostic mechanisms that may exacerbate these relations. She is currently the PI on a pre-doctoral National Research Service Award (NRSA) grant.
Nubia A. Mayorga
Ms. Mayorga is currently in her fifth year as doctoral student within the UH Clinical Psychology program. She received her B.S. in psychology from the University of Houston with a minor in Spanish in 2017. Her research interests include exploring underlying transdiagnostic factors within the context of mental health, substance use, and physical health among ethnic minority populations, in particular among Latinx individuals. Ms. Mayorga is also interested in improving the integration of culturally tailored treatments among minority populations and examining predictors of treatment outcome.
Pamella Nizio
Pamella Nizio is a study coordinator at the University of Houston. She is interested in identifying underlying transdiagnostic mechanisms relevant to the onset, persistence, and resolution of substance use and mental illness, and in understanding different factors that contribute to health disparities within underserved communities. She will be joining the University of Houston's Clinical Psychology PhD program in the fall of 2022.
Luke F. Heggeness
Dr. Luke Heggeness is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Houston. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Kent State University (OH). Broadly, his research interests center on emotion regulation processes, health behavior, and transdiagnostic risk factors for disorders characterized by depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. Dr. Heggeness' work primarily focuses on elucidating correlates, consequences, and explanatory mechanisms of affect-driven substance use behaviors (e.g., rumination, anxiety sensitivity). He has published over ten peer-review papers, the majority of which addresses clinical, treatment-seeking, and/or underserved populations (e.g., persons living with HIV).
Brooke Y. Kauffman
Brooke Kauffman is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. Her research interests focus on innovative and integrative treatment methodologies aimed at improving health behaviors. She has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to affective vulnerabilities and experiences (e.g., anxiety sensitivity) in the context of co-occurring problematic health behaviors (e.g., smoking, emotional eating). She has served as the PI on a pre-doctoral National Research Service Award (NRSA) grant and a Co-I on several other NIH-funded grants.
Lorra Garey
Dr. Lorra Garey is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston. Her primary research interests focus on elucidating and attenuating health disparities among underserved and vulnerable populations by examining the interplay between substance use and psychological vulnerabilities, and addressing malleable risk factors, including tobacco use, in the context of transdiagnostic interventions. She has published more than 165 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on the co-occurrence of addiction and mental illness, and been a PI or Co-I on several large-scale, federally funded research projects.
Michael J. Zvolensky
Dr. Zvolensky is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at University of Houston. He has published over 850 scholarly works on the co-occurrence of anxiety and stress-related psychopathology with substance use disorders. In this line of work, he also has examined the physical health and health behavior correlates of anxiety-substance use disorder comorbidity, including such conditions as HIV/AIDS, asthma, cardiac disease, and chronic pain. Dr. Zvolensky's work is globally aimed at eliminating inequalities in psychopathology, addictive, and other health behaviors through translational research.