Psychometric properties of the anxiety sensitivity index-3 in an acute and heterogeneous treatment sample

Lara S Rifkin; Courtney Beard; Kean J Hsu; Lauryn Garner; Thröstur Björgvinsson

doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.09.010

Psychometric properties of the anxiety sensitivity index-3 in an acute and heterogeneous treatment sample

J Anxiety Disord. 2015 Dec:36:99-102. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.09.010. Epub 2015 Sep 25.

Authors

Lara S Rifkin¹, Courtney Beard², Kean J Hsu³, Lauryn Garner⁴, Thröstur Björgvinsson⁵

Affiliations

¹ McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Mail Stop 113, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Mail Stop 113, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Mail Stop 113, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Mail Stop 113, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Mail Stop 113, Belmont, MA 02478, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 26460538
DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.09.010

Abstract

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is associated with various forms of psychopathology. The most common measure of AS is the anxiety sensitivity index-3 (ASI-3). The current study examined the psychometric properties and factor structure of the ASI-3 in an acute and comorbid population seeking treatment for a broad range of psychopathology (N=382). Results confirmed a bi-factor structure and suggested that the ASI-3 demonstrates adequate psychometric properties in a transdiagnostic sample. The ASI-3 also showed adequate sensitivity to change over the course of partial hospital treatment. Findings regarding associations between specific anxiety disorders and subscales of the ASI-3 are discussed. Overall, the current results support the use of the ASI-3 to assess AS in heterogeneous treatment-seeking samples. This work is of particular utility for researchers examining the concept of AS transdiagnostically.

Keywords: Anxiety disorders; Anxiety sensitivity; Anxiety sensitivity index; Confirmatory factor analysis.

MeSH terms

Analysis of Variance
Anxiety Disorders / diagnosis*
Anxiety Disorders / therapy
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results