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The Relationship Between Attachment Style, Anxiety Sensitivity and Interpretive Bias Among Adolescent Nonclinical Panickers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

David W. Austin ,
Rachel S. Jamieson ,
Jeffrey C. Richards  and
John Winkelman
David W. Austin*
Affiliation:
Monash University, Australia. [email protected]
Rachel S. Jamieson
Affiliation:
University of Ballarat, Australia.
Jeffrey C. Richards
Affiliation:
Monash University, Australia.
John Winkelman
Affiliation:
University of Ballarat, Australia.
*
*Address for correspondence: David Austin, Department of General Practice, Monash University, 867 Centre Road, East Bentleigh VIC 3165, Australia.
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Abstract

Elevated anxiety sensitivity and the tendency to catastrophically misinterpret ambiguous bodily sensations has been demonstrated in people who experience nonclinical levels of panic (Richards, Austin, & Alvarenga, 2001), and anxiety sensitivity has been shown to be associated with insecure attachment in adolescents and young adults (Weems, Berman, Silverman, & Saavedra, 2001). This study investigated the relationship between attachment style, anxiety sensitivity and catastrophic misinterpretation among 11 nonclinical panickers and 58 nonanxious controls aged 18 to 19 years. Participants completed the Brief Bodily Sensations Interpretation Questionnaire (BBSIQ), Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and an attachment questionnaire. The hypothesis that insecurely attached individuals would demonstrate greater catastrophic misinterpretation and higher anxiety sensitivity than securely attached individuals was not supported; however, nonclinical panickers gave more anxiety-related interpretations of ambiguous internal stimuli than nonanxious controls. Results do not support the notion that attachment style is related to anxiety sensitivity or catastrophic misinterpretation (regardless of panic experience). Results do, however, support the notion that anxiety-related misinterpretation of ambiguous somatic sensations precedes the onset of panic disorder.

Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , 01 March 2006 , pp. 31 - 41
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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