Anxiety Sensitivity and Depression: Explaining Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Female Veterans With Chronic Pain

Abstract

Female veterans report more severe levels of chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than their male counterparts. Researchers have postulated that these conditions can mutually maintain each other. The current study tested whether anxiety sensitivity and depression account for the association between chronic pain and PTSD symptoms in a sample of female veterans (N = 42) with chronic pain. We found that pain unpleasantness, anxiety sensitivity, and depression all predict PTSD symptoms. As hypothesized, anxiety sensitivity and depression emerged as unique predictors of PTSD symptoms when simultaneously entered into the model with pain unpleasantness. Clinical implications are discussed.