Anxiety-related Factors Research Articles

Impulsivity and anxiety-related dimensions in adults with bulimic-spectrum disorders differentially relate to eating disordered behaviors

While facets of both anxiety and impulsivity appear central to the development and maintenance of bulimia nervosa (BN), specific BN behaviors may be propagated by differing profiles of risk. The current study examined associations between dimensions of anxiety and impulsivity and BN symptoms (binge eating, vomiting, laxative misuse, driven exercise), both in terms of the presence of such behaviors and their frequency. Two hundred and four women (Mage = 25.7 years) who met DSM-IV criteria for full or subthreshold BN completed self-report measures of perfectionism (Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale), anxiety (Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory), impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale–11; Impulsive Behavior Scale), eating disordered behaviors (Eating Disorder Examination – Questionnaire), and associated psychiatric symptoms (Michigan Assessment Screening Test/Alcohol-Drug; Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory). Factor analysis revealed multidimensional impulsive and anxiety-related traits (5 anxiety-related factors; 7 impulsivity-related factors). In zero-sensitive regression models, different facets of impulsivity evidenced association with the presence of binge eating (risk taking), laxative misuse (impulsive spending), and fasting (difficulty concentrating), along with the frequency of vomiting (long-term planning difficulties). In contrast, anxiety-related dimensions were only associated with driven exercise (high standards) and fasting (concern over mistakes, high standards, parental expectations). Overall, impulsive and anxiety-related factors and symptoms showed distinct associations with specific eating disorder behaviors, even among those with the same diagnosis.

Gender differences in depression, anxiety, and stress among college students: A longitudinal study from China

BackgroundThe objective of this longitudinal study was to examine the gender differences in college students' depression, anxiety, and stress over the four academic years, and to explore possible anxiety-related factors among first year students. MethodsThe study analyzed 1892 undergraduate students from 15 universities in China, with 898 females and 994 males. The students have been followed for four years and completed a survey containing the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 questionnaire, students’ socio-demographic information, and their educational background, etc. Results(1) On average, both female and male college students suffered from mild anxiety in the first three years. Female students scored significantly higher in anxiety than males in the first and second years, and there was no significant gender difference in students’ average depression and stress levels. (2) A significantly larger proportion of female students experienced anxiety above the normal threshold, whereas a higher percentage of male students endured different degrees of depression; no significant gender differences were found in stress problems. (3) Anxiety had a significant positive correlation with introversion. Female freshmen's anxiety levels were also associated with their body image, drinking habits, and academic performance. LimitationsResponse bias may exist considering that self-reported data was used. Due to data unavailability, we only explored the anxiety-related factors in freshman year, which cannot sufficiently reflect the consistency of correlations over time. ConclusionsAnxiety turned out to be the most prevalent and serious issue for college students, especially for female students; while a growing prevalence of depression was found among male students during college. It is of great significance to adopt collegiate policies reflecting the gender differentials.

“I just don’t feel comfortable speaking English”: Foreign language anxiety as a catalyst for spoken-language barriers in MNCs

Over the last two decades, the impact of language standardization in MNCs has attracted considerable research attention. However, although the current IB literature strongly suggests that the introduction of English can cause a significant barrier, we still have not fully understood the micro-foundations of such barriers. We conducted an inductive study and interpret our findings using an interdisciplinary approach drawing from both IB related research as well as research from the field of linguistics and language studies. We propose that a major challenge for MNC employees is the foreign language anxiety they typically experience in a non-native language. It is manifest in communication avoidance and withdrawal, as well as code-switching. Our findings indicate that such communicative behaviors can have a considerable impact on interpersonal communication, affecting both the content and relationship dimension. Our study contributes to emerging research on the role of anxiety-related factors as micro-foundations of language barriers and provides a so far rather neglected starting point for firms to reduce the language barrier in corporations.

Clarifying the associations between anxiety, depression and fatigue following stroke.

Both psychological distress and fatigue are common post stroke. Although there is recognition that the phenomena are related, the nature of the relationship is unclear.Cross-sectional study of 98 independently functioning participants within 2 years of stroke. Significant relationships were observed between fatigue and general anxiety, health-related anxiety and stroke-specific anxiety (r range from .31 to .37). In the final regression model, depression, pain and stroke-specific anxiety were significant, accounting for 32 per cent of the variance in fatigue scores (p < .001). The findings provide insight into the importance of anxiety-related factors post stroke, their relevance to our understanding of post-stroke fatigue and their implications for post-stroke intervention.

Maternal Anxiety 16 Months after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Area: First Report

The Great East Japan Earthquake, a magnitude 9.0 quake that occurred on March 11, 2011, left more than 20,000 killed or missing and resulted in more than 400,000 people being displaced. The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident released large amounts of radioactive material into the air. Among the victims of this combined disaster were many pregnant and parturient women, and this study aimed to determine post-disaster anxiety among this specific population and measures for the future. Participants were 259 women (mean age 33.02 ± 4.79 years) who gave birth around the time of the earthquake in Miyagi Prefecture, one of the disaster areas. Sixteen months after the earthquake, we administered survey questionnaires on anxiety. We transcribed questionnaire responses, coded raw data by context, and categorized these codes by commonality. After extracting subcategories of anxiety-related factors, we categorized them into more abstract concepts. Among the participants, 126 (48.6%) reported having no available professionals with whom they could consult about childrearing. Participants reported anxiety in the following 12 categories: “radiation,” “child’s physical and mental growth/development,” “recurrence of earthquake and tsunami,” “financial issues,” “childrearing environment,” “living environment,” “maternal employment,” “stigma,” “familial issues,” “maternal health,” “childrearing,” and “the future”. A beneficial way to reduce maternal anxiety in the 12 areas identified would be to develop support systems that provide continuous support for children’s mental health care needs, psychological guidance, community support for maternal empowerment, outreach for individual support, and professional consultation for mothers who have high anxiety about radioactivity.

Anxiety and Its Related Factors at Bedtime Are Associated with Difficulty in Falling Asleep

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is marked by difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in maintaining sleep, and/or early morning awakening. Difficulty in falling asleep is particularly common in young adults, and sleep onset is affected by psychological factors. The purpose of the present study was to identify the physical and mental factors related to the subjective evaluation of falling asleep among Japanese university students. The participants were 366 students, including 197 (53.8%) females, with a mean age of 20.6 ± 1.7 years. The questionnaire battery mainly covered items about sleep onset, sleep quality, trait anxiety, and general mental state. Sleep onset was categorized as "easy to achieve" for 121 (33.1%) subjects, "difficult" for 38 (10.4%), and "intermediate" for 207 (56.6%). For example, "difficult" was defined as taking a longer time to fall asleep. The subjects with difficult sleep onset reported significantly higher awareness of the smell and noises in the bedroom, body sensations such as a heavy stomach feeling and frequent rolling over, mental agitation and excitement, unstable mental state, negative state, and strain. The subjects with difficult sleep onset also showed less sleep comfort and less recovery from fatigue. A multinominal logistic regression analysis revealed that each of body sensation, sleep comfort, unstable mental state, and fatigue influenced whether an individual had the difficult type. Anxiety-related factors at bedtime, in particular, may delay the sleep onset. The results of the present study indicate that many university students may be at risk of sleep-onset insomnia.

The investigation progress of preoperation anxiety related factor analysis and nursing intervention

焦虑是外科手术前病人最常见的心理反应,本文就术前焦虑的相关因素分析、术前焦虑与心身康复的相关性、护理对策等方面进行了综述,分析了焦虑对术前病人的影响,有针对性的提出了护理对策.强调术前帮助患者做好心理准备,减轻焦虑,对于配合手术治疗,促进术后康复都是至关重要的。

Integrating the open field, elevated plus maze and light/dark box to assess different types of emotional behaviors in one single trial

Current anxiety tests do not provide, individually, a pure and complete picture of an animal's emotional profile. Therefore, many authors test their experimental hypotheses using a series of anxiety-related tests, which are thought to reflect different facets of emotionality. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential usefulness of integrating three widely used behavioral tests, the open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM), and light/dark box (LDB), to assess a wider range of emotional and non-emotional behaviors within one single trial. A protocol was developed where rats could freely explore an OF that was physically connected to an EPM and a LDB during 15 min. Classical anxiety- and locomotion-related behaviors from each test were measured. Lewis and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) inbred strains, known to present genetic differences in each of the individual tests, differed for all anxiety-related behaviors from the combined apparatus. Factor analyses revealed that similar anxiety- and locomotion-related factors were produced by the three tests applied either separately or in combination. Under both conditions, each test produced its own anxiety-related factor. Two benzodiazepines, chlordiazepoxide (at 5 and 10 mg/kg) and midazolam (at 0.75 mg/kg), facilitated the approach towards the EPM open arms, whereas pentylenetetrazole (10 mg/kg) specifically inhibited exploration of the three aversive areas (OF center, EPM open arms, LDB light compartment). Together, these results suggest that the new integrated apparatus may contribute to the study of anxiety, by providing a rapid, comprehensive and reliable method of assessing emotionality-related behaviors and its underlying components.

Occurrence of anxiety in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients and analysis of correlation factors

Objective To discuss the occurrence of anxiety in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients and the analysis of correlation factors. Methods The occurrences of anxiety in 73 SAH patients were studied with a questionnaire. The correlations between the anxiety occurrence and the gender, age, education state, mode of medicine fee payment, SAH times, clinical symptoms, knowledge of the disease and complications were analyzed. Results The occurrence rate of anxiety in SAH patients was 53.4%. The female patients had a higher occurrence rate of anxiety than that of the males. Severe headache patients had a higher rate of anxiety than the slight ones. Hemorrhages times and complications had Obvious correlations with anxiety. Conclusions Correct understanding of anxiety is the precondition of expanding the intervention of positive emotion. Analyzing the anxiety-related factors and then actively giving the physiological therapy are the keys to the successful operation in SAH patients. Key words: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH); Anxiety; Correlation factor

Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index

This preliminary study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). Its test-retest reliability and internal consistency were found acceptable. Factor analysis of the ASI yielded 4 anxiety-related factors: factor I is heart/lung failure concern; factor II, psychological concern; factor III, physical concern; and factor IV, social concern. In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that the ASI score significantly correlated only with the neuroticism-related category of the NEO-Personality Inventory Revised. The ASI mean scores of those with 5 or more according to the General Health Questionnaire (unhealthy) and those with 16 or more according to the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depressive Scale (depression) were significantly higher than in the healthy and nondepressive groups. Although further research is necessary to confirm the construct validity by factor analysis of the ASI, the Japanese version of the ASI is applicable for use in the Japanese population.

Marijuana Use Among Daily Tobacco Smokers: Relationship to Anxiety-Related Factors

The present investigation evaluated the incremental validity of regular marijuana use and frequency of such use in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms and perceived health among young adult tobacco smokers (n = 202). Approximately 72% of the sample were current marijuana smokers, using this drug on an average of 7.6 (SD = 9.2) times per week. As expected, after controlling for theoretically-relevant smoking (cigarettes per day), alcohol use, and affect factors (i.e., negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity), marijuana use predicted anxiety symptoms and perceived general health, whereas frequency of marijuana use predicted only anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding the role of regular marijuana use in terms of anxiety-relevant emotional vulnerability and beliefs about physical health among regular smokers.

Anxiety-related behavior and densities of glutamate, GABA A, acetylcholine and serotonin receptors in the amygdala of seven inbred mouse strains

The amygdala is a brain region involved in the regulation of anxiety-related behavior. The purpose of this study was to correlate anxiety-related behavior of inbred mouse strains (BA//c, BALB/cJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, CPB-K, DBA/2J, NMRI) to receptor binding in the amygdala. Binding site densities of receptors (NMDA, AMPA, kainate, GABA A, serotonin, muscarinergic M 1–M 2) were measured with quantitative receptor autoradiography using tritiated ligands. Measurements of fear-sensitized acoustic startle response (ASR; induced by footshocks), elevated plus maze (EPM) behavior and receptor binding studies showed differences between the strains except for AMPA and muscarinergic M 2 receptors. Factor analysis revealed a Startle Factor with positive loadings of the density of serotonin and kainate receptors, and the amplitudes of the baseline and fear-sensitized ASRs. A second Anxiety-related Factor only correlated with the fear-sensitized ASR and anxiety parameters on the EPM but not receptor densities. There were also two General Activity Factors defined by (negative) correlations with entries to closed arms of the EPM. Because the density of NMDA and muscarinergic M 1 receptors also correlated negatively with the two factors, these receptors had a positive effect on general activity. In contrast, correlations of GABA A, serotonin, and kainate receptors had the opposite sign as compared to closed arm entries. It is concluded that hereditary variations in the amygdala, particularly in kainate and serotonin receptors, play a role for the baseline and fear-sensitized ASR, whereas the general activity is influenced by many neurotransmitter receptor systems.

Anxiety- and activity-related effects of diazepam and chlordiazepoxide in the rat light/dark and dark/light tests

We have investigated, through factor analysis, anxiety- and activity-related variables in rats placed in the light/dark box. Thus, vehicle-, diazepam (DZ)-, and chlordiazepoxide (CDP)-treated rats were submitted 30 min later to 5-min light/dark or dark/light tests (initial placements in light or dark, respectively). Following this test, the animals were tested for 5 min in an automated activity monitor. Doses of DZ (0.75–3.0 mg/kg) and CDP (2.5–10.0 mg/kg) were based on preliminary evidence for 1.5 mg/kg of DZ and 5 mg/kg of CDP being anxiolytic in the elevated plus-maze. In the light/dark test, DZ increased the number of visits to and duration in the light compartment, and locomotor activity in the dark compartment; moreover, DZ decreased the latency to enter the light compartment. These effects were, however, significant for the highest dose only. Although CDP yielded similar behavioural effects, only the highest dose had a significant effect, namely, on latency to enter the light side. Conversely, none of the other variables were benzodiazepine-sensitive. Locomotion in the activity cages was decreased by DZ and CDP, an effect significant for the highest doses of benzodiazepines (dark/light test condition only). In both tests, factor analyses revealed an anxiety-related factor (to which all variables related to the visits in the light and part of the locomotion in the dark contributed), and an activity-related factor (upon which the latency to enter the dark and part of the locomotion in the dark loaded) in the light/dark test only. It is suggested that although the light/dark and dark/light tests capture an approach/avoidance dimension, DZ and CDP are more effective in the former test. Compared to the light/dark test, however, the plus-maze may be more sensitive to the anxiolytic effects of DZ and CDP.

CHANGES IN CIRCULATING LYMPHOCYTE NUMBERS FOLLOWING EMOTIONAL DISCLOSURE: EVIDENCE OF BUFFERING?

In order to assess whether disclosure of emotions through writing about upsetting or traumatic events resulted in changes in blood-associated immune variables over time, healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to write about either emotional issues or trivial topics for 4 consecutive days. Circulating lymphocytes and T lymphocyte subsets (CD4 (helper), CD8 (cytotoxic/suppressor)) as well as a variety of standard hematological markers were measured following the writing intervention and compared with baseline values. In two separate studies (N=40 and N=38), there were reproducible significant differences between the emotional disclosure and control writing groups immediately following the intervention in CD4, CD8 and total circulating lymphocyte numbers but not in CD4/CD8 ratios or any other hematological variables. Circulating lymphocyte numbers in the emotional writing group stayed relatively constant over the time-course of the studies, suggesting that the difference between the groups was due to a transient elevation in postwriting blood lymphocyte numbers in the control group. Self-evaluations immediately before and after each writing session confirmed that the intervention was stressful for subjects in the emotional disclosure group but the effects on circulating lymphocytes were not attributable purely to anxiety-related factors. The results extend our previous observation of changes in immune reactivity following a writing intervention and indicate that the group differences are the result of fluctuations over time in the control group but relative stability in the emotional disclosure group. It is conceivable that such ‘buffering’ of temporal immune variation might be influential in the health-promoting effects of emotional disclosure. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The role of anxiety in sexual dysfunctions: a review.

Studies are reviewed which (a) compare anxiety and other measures of psychopathology between normals and dysfunctionals ; (b) evaluate the effectiveness of anxiety reduction procedures for treating sexual dysfunctions; and (c) try to identify anxiety-related stimuli that alter sexual arousal. The studies, in general, suggest that (a) anxiety is common among people with sexual dysfunctions, but that the level and nature of the anxiety may vary greatly between individuals; (b) anxiety reduction procedures improve some, but probably not all, aspects of sexual dysfunctions; and (c) recent research has begun to identify some anxiety-related factors that can disrupt sexual arousal.