Anxiety sensitivity and CO2 challenge reactivity as unique and interactive prospective predictors of anxiety pathology

The effects of acute exercise on CO(2) challenge reactivity

The present study examined the effects of acute exercise on anxiogenic responding to 65% O(2)/35% CO(2) challenge. Participants (N=92) were 51 female and 41 male volunteers ranging in age from 17 to 24 (M=19.43, SD=1.31). Participants had no history of panic attacks and were randomized to moderate treadmill exercise (i.e., 70% of HR(max)) or quiet rest prior to taking a single vital capacity inhalation of 35% CO(2)/65% O(2). Gender and measures of negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity were included in the design as control variables. Results indicated participants who exercised prior to challenge showed significantly reduced reactivity compared to their counterparts who rested prior to challenge. Importantly, the effect sizes for the advantage of exercise over rest remained in the medium to large range (i.e., partial eta(2)>.07) after controlling for the effects of gender, anxiety sensitivity, and negative affectivity. These findings are the first to demonstrate that the anti-panic effects of exercise are unique from, and cannot be better explained by, established risk factors of CO(2) challenge reactivity.

Exploration of anxiety sensitivity and distress tolerance as vulnerability factors for hoarding behaviors

BACKGROUND

The phenomenon of compulsive hoarding, characterized by the acquisition of and failure to discard a large number of possessions, is increasingly recognized as a significant public health burden. Despite the magnitude of the impairment associated with this condition, empirical research is still in the nascent stages and many facets of the phenomenology, underlying vulnerability and risk factors for hoarding, are as of yet unknown.

METHOD

The overall aim of the current investigation was to examine the association between hoarding behaviors and two potential vulnerability factors-anxiety sensitivity (AS) and distress tolerance (DT). In addition, we investigated the robustness of these associations as well as the interaction between the two hypothesized risk factors. Three studies (total N=745) involving independent nonclinical samples assessed hoarding, AS, DT, and relevant covariates using a range of measures. Resutlts: Findings revealed that AS and hoarding are significantly and robustly associated with one another beyond general depressive, anxiety, and nonhoarding obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Hoarding was also found to be associated with low DT. Consistent with prediction, AS and DT interacted such that DT may play a less important role among individuals with low AS. By contrast, low DT appears to increase vulnerability to hoarding symptoms among individuals high in AS. Results are discussed with regard to future research and treatment implications. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.