Cited by 609Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Anxiety sensitivity and the anxiety disorders: A meta-analytic review and synthesis.

Olatunji, Bunmi O., Wolitzky-Taylor, Kate B.·2009·Psychological Bulletin

Abstract

There has been significant interest in the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in the anxiety disorders. In this meta-analysis, we empirically evaluate differences in AS between anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and nonclinical controls. A total of 38 published studies (N = 20,146) were included in the analysis. The results yielded a large effect size indicating greater AS among anxiety disorder patients versus nonclinical controls (d = 1.61). However, this effect was maintained only for panic disorder patients compared to mood disorder patients (d = 0.85). Panic disorder was also associated with greater AS compared to other anxiety disorders except for posttraumatic stress disorder (d = 0.04). Otherwise the anxiety disorders generally did not differ from each other in AS. Although these findings suggest that AS is central to the phenomenology of panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, causal inferences regarding the role of AS in these anxiety disorders cannot be made. Moderator analyses showed that a greater proportion of female participants was associated with larger differences in AS between anxiety and nonclinical control groups. However, more female participants were associated with a smaller AS difference between anxiety and mood disorder groups. This finding suggests that AS is less robust in distinguishing anxiety from mood disorders among women. Age also moderated some observed effects such that AS was more strongly associated with anxiety disorders in adults compared to children. Type of AS measure used also moderated some effects. Implications of these findings for the conceptualization of AS in anxiety-related disorders are discussed.

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Crossref · 10.1037/a0017428

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  • Further cognitive constructs related to health anxiety include higher levels of anxiety sensitivity, health-related rumination, and health-related intolerance of uncertainty.

    “Further cognitive constructs related to health anxiety include higher levels of anxiety sensitivity, the fear of arousal-related bodily sensations [50, 51], health-related rumination [52], and health-related intolerance of uncertainty which is essentially a reduced capacity to endure the perception of missing important information [53–55].”

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Authors
Olatunji, B. O., & Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B.
Affiliations
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Published
2009
Volume
135
Issue
6
Pages
974-999
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
OpenAlex
W1976107439
Cited by
609
References
178
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 32
FWCI
27.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
anxiety sensitivity, anxiety disorders, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, sex differences, age differences, phenomenology of anxiety
MeSH terms
Anxiety Disorders, Awareness, Cognition Disorders, Emotions, Humans, Internal-External Control, Personality Assessment, Psychometrics, Psychopathology, Social Perception, Somatoform Disorders, Temperament, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Panic Disorder, Mood Disorders

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