The Anxiety Sensitivity Profile revisited: factor structure and psychometric properties in two nonclinical samples [An article from: Journal of Anxiety Disorders]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Anxiety Disorders, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to the fear of anxiety-related symptoms based upon the belief that the sensations have harmful consequences. Although the most popular existing measure is the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), the Anxiety Sensitivity Profile (ASP) was developed as an alternative and theoretically improved assessment of the multifaceted nature of the AS construct. Nevertheless, there has been a paucity of research on this measure. We evaluated the psychometric properties and factor structure of the ASP in two large, geographically diverse undergraduate samples who completed the ASP and measures of anxiety and depression. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four lower order ASP factors in both samples: (1) fear of arousal-related symptoms, (2) fear of cognitive dyscontrol and dissociation, (3) fear of gastrointestinal symptoms, and (4) fear of cardiac symptoms. The fear of cardiac symptoms factor was relatively unstable in both studies. Correlations between the ASP factors and related variables were consistent with AS theory. The strengths and limitations of the ASP are offered as well as the implications of our findings for the nature and assessment of AS.