Anxiety sensitivity and posttraumatic stress symptoms in sexual assault survivors

Abstract

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the fear of anxiety-related physiological sensations, is a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following a traumatic event, yet there is limited research on the relationship between AS and PTSS among sexual assault survivors. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that AS would emerge as a statistical predictor of PTSS dimensions among community members and undergraduate students endorsing lifetime exposure to sexual trauma. Adults endorsing a history of sexual assault (N = 52) completed an online battery, including self-report measures of AS, general distress, dysfunctional trauma-related beliefs (i.e., posttraumatic cognitions), and PTSS. Although AS was associated with PTSS dimensions at the bivariate level (rs ranged .68–82), AS did not emerge as a significant unique predictor of PTSS dimensions in linear regression analyses after controlling for general distress and posttraumatic cognitions. In fact, general distress was the only significant statistical predictor of PTSS total and dimension scores (ps < 01). Study implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.