The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity and Lack of Emotional Approach Coping in Depressive Symptom Severity Among a Non‐Clinical Sample of Uncued Panickers

Abstract

Panic attacks and depression frequently co‐occur, and the presence of this co‐morbidity is often associated with worse outcomes compared with each disorder alone. Despite this, not everyone who experiences panic attacks also suffers from depression, suggesting that individual difference factors may play a role in this co‐morbidity. The purpose of this study was to provide a preliminary investigation of two such individual difference factors, examining the role of anxiety sensitivity and lack of emotional approach coping in depressive symptom severity among a non‐clinical sample of uncued panickers. A sample of 79 college students reporting the occurrence of uncued panic attacks within the past year completed a series of questionnaires assessing the lower‐order factors of anxiety sensitivity, emotional approach coping, panic attack frequency, panic‐related disability, panic symptom severity and depressive symptom severity. Participants with more severe depressive symptoms reported greater anxiety sensitivity, panic attack frequency, panic symptom severity, panic‐related disability and lack of emotional approach coping. The particular anxiety sensitivity dimension of fear of cognitive dyscontrol and lack of emotional approach coping emerged as the best predictors of depressive symptom severity. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the improved understanding of this co‐morbidity, as well as its treatment.

Keywords:

• anxiety sensitivity
• coping
• depression
• emotion
• emotion dysregulation
• emotion regulation, panic
• panic attacks
• panic disorder

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and supported in part by a University of Massachusetts Boston, Office of Research and Sponsored Projects Dissertation Support Grant, as well as a dissertation support grant provided by the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston to the first author. Portions of this study were presented at the 25th annual meeting of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America in Seattle, Washington, USA (March, 2005). The author wishes to thank 2 anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions in the preparation of this manuscript.

The sample of panickers used in this study has been reported on in a previous study (Tull, M.T. (in press). Extending an anxiety sensitivity model of uncued panic attack frequency and symptom severity: the role of emotion dysregulation. Cognitive Therapy and Research); therefore, data pertaining to panic prevalence, symptom severity, and frequency should not be considered original data. A different anxiety sensitivity factor structure was used in this study.