Abstract
There is growing evidence linking psychological stress to atopic disease, particularly asthma. Anxiety sensitivity, which is the fear of anxiety-related symptoms, may be particularly important in the study of anxiety and atopic disease. The present study examined the association between atopy and anxiety sensitivity in adult asthmatics. A total of 217 asthma patients who had undergone standard pulmonary function and allergen skin prick testing were included. Participants completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Type D Personality Scale-16 and Beck Depression Inventory-II on the day of their asthma clinic visit. Total Anxiety Sensitivity Index score was found to be significantly higher in atopic (M = 17.15, SE = .9) versus non-atopic (M = 12.68, SE = 1.5) asthmatics, independent of age, sex, smoking status, asthma severity, asthma duration, and anxiolytic medication use (F = 6.11, p = .014). There was no evidence for a significant association between any of the other questionnaire scores and atopic status.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge grant support from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) and the Fondation de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal (Michel Auger Foundation) (KLL). Salary support was provided by a fellowship grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (KLL) and Salary Awards from the FRSQ (KLL and SLB). The authors thank Mr. Guillaume Lacoste and Drs. André Cartier, Jean-Luc Malo, and Catherine Lemière for their assistance with data collection.
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Barone, S., Bacon, S.L., Campbell, T.S. et al. The association between anxiety sensitivity and atopy in adult asthmatics. J Behav Med 31, 331–339 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-008-9164-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-008-9164-5