Anxiety Sensitivity and Comorbid Psychiatric Symptoms over the Course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Panic Disorder
Sei Ogawa *
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Masaki Kondo
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Keiko Ino
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Toshitaka Ii
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Risa Imai
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Toshi A. Furukawa
Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine / School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan.
Tatsuo Akechi
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: Anxiety sensitivity (AS) might be the core vulnerability in the pathogenesis of AXIS I diagnosis and might be the important transdiagnostic target for the interventions for comorbid psychiatric symptoms in panic disorder (PD). This study aimed to examine the relationship of changes in the three factors of AS and changes in comorbid psychiatric symptoms over the course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for PD.
Methodology: One hundred eighteen patients with PD were treated with manualized group CBT. Using multiple regression analysis, we examined the associations between the changes in subscales of Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90-R) and the changes in factors of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) involving Physical Concerns, Mental Incapacitation Concerns, and Social Concerns over the course CBT.
Results: Reductions in Mental Incapacitation Concerns of ASI were related to decreases in 8 SCL-90-R scales, including Obsessive-Compulsive, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Depression, Hostility, Phobic Anxiety, Paranoid Ideation, Psychoticism, and GSI. Reductions in Physical Concerns were related to decreases in 5 SCL-90-R scales, including Somatization, Depression, Anxiety, Phobic Anxiety, and GSI.
Discussion: The present study suggests that reductions in AS, especially mental and physical dimensions, predict comorbid psychiatric symptoms reduction over the course of CBT for PD.
Keywords: Panic disorder, anxiety sensitivity, cognitive behavioural therapy, comorbid psychiatric symptoms.