Prospective Evaluation of Psychological Risk Factors as Predictors of Functional Impairment During Acute Stress

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that psychological risk variables (e.g., anxiety sensitivity) may act as premorbid risk factors for the development of physical illness and psychopathology such as clinical anxiety and cardiovascular disease. The principal aim of the present study was to prospectively evaluate the degree to which these factors affected mental and physical health-related impairment and disability. A large nonclinical sample of young adults (N = 1296) was prospectively followed during a highly stressful period of time (i.e., military basic training). Consistent with expectation, each of the hypothesized risk factors contributed to the prediction of at least one index of impairment (e.g., visits to health clinic) after controlling for demographic factors, fitness, and history of psychiatric treatment. Moreover, gender interacted with risk factors in predicting outcomes suggesting that females with high anxiety sensitivity, relative to males with high anxiety sensitivity, are particularly prone to develop impairment during stress.