Perceived Stress and Anxiety Sensitivity in the Prediction of Anxiety-Related Responding: A Multichallenge Evaluation

Abstract

We have provided a laboratory evaluation of emotional reactivity to physiological (hyperventilation), cognitive (mental arithmetic), and social (speech) challenge procedures, and investigated how preexperimental levels of perceived stress, anxiety sensitivity, and negative-evaluation sensitivity predicted anxious and fearful responding. Participants were 37 nonclinical individuals. Dependent measures included a multimethod assessment involving self-reported anxiety, frequency and intensity of bodily sensations, and heart rate and blood pressure responses to the challenges. Our results indicated that preexperimental levels of perceived stress were more predictive than other theoretically relevant variables of self-reported anxiety-related reactivity to cognitive and social challenges, whereas anxiety sensitivity was a better predictor of the emotional response to hyperventilation. Collectively, these findings are consistent with theoretical accounts of anxiety pathology, and suggest that perceived stress is an important process variable to consider in understanding the determinants of anxiety-related responding.