The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral interventions for reducing anxiety sensitivity: A meta-analytic review
Section snippets
A meta-analytic review
Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to the fear of anxiety-related sensations (Reiss, Peterson, Gursky, & McNally, 1986). AS is a dispositional characteristic that is distinct from trait anxiety, which merely reflects a tendency to experience frequent episodes of state anxiety (McNally, 2002). Individuals with elevated levels of AS respond with fear to somatic arousal often because they believe that these sensations have harmful consequences (e.g., physical illness, social embarrassment, mental
Data sources
We selected randomized-controlled trials that included a version of the ASI using a comprehensive search strategy. We searched the following databases: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Scopus from 1986 to February 2008. The search was limited to articles published after 1986 because this was the year the ASI was developed (Reiss et al., 1986). The searches included the following terms: “anxiety sensitivity” or “fear of fear” alone and in combination with “treatment”. These words were searched as “all
Study selection and study characteristics
As can be seen in Fig. 1, of the 989 studies that were initially identified, 24 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Sixteen studies (N = 711) included treatment-seeking samples. Primary diagnoses in these studies included panic disorder (12), tinnitus (2), claustrophobia (1) and social phobia (1). The treatments employed in these studies included cognitive therapy with no formal exposure component, exposure therapy with no formal cognitive component (i.e., interoceptive, virtual reality,
Discussion
A growing body of literature suggests that AS may be involved in the etiology and maintenance of a number of Axis I disorders. Accordingly, available interventions that can reduce AS may be critical to the prevention and treatment of many of these disorders. Results of an initial review underscored the promise of cognitive-behavioral interventions for reducing AS (Otto & Reilly-Harrington, 1999). The goal of the present study was to expand upon this initial review by including recently
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References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the meta-analysis.