The Relationship Between Anxiety Symptoms, Anxiety Sensitivity, and Emotional Schemas in Patients Admitted to Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic

Abstract

Introduction. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders being an important cause of disability as they impair the functionality of affected individuals. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of anxiety sensitivity, which is one of the cognitive structures involved in the etiology and perpetuation of psychopathologies, and emotional schemas, which evaluate how people handle their emotions, on anxiety symptoms. Methods. One hundred participants who were admitted to the outpatient psychiatry clinic, agreed to participate in the study, and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I), Leahy Emotional Schema Scale Turkish Version (LESS-T), and Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3) were administered to the participants. Results. A correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between the BAI score and BDI-I score, ASI-3 total score, and LESS-T Uncontrollability, Weakness, Comprehensibility, Acceptance of Emotions, Rumination, Denial of Emotions, Validation subscale scores (p < 0.05). A logistic regression analysis that examined the risk factors predicting anxiety symptoms in individuals found that increasing BDI-I and ASI-3 total scores had an increasing effect on the development of anxiety, and an increase in the LESS-T Denial of Emotions subscore had a decreasing effect. Conclusions. Determining anxiety sensitivity and emotional schemas in patients with anxiety symptoms may be a guide in identifying and treating the risk factors for the development of anxiety disorders.