Evaluating the etiology of anxiety sensitivity: Relation to cardiovascularperception and reactivity

A large body of research has suggested that anxiety sensitivity (AS) acts a s a specific vulnerability factor in the development of anxiety pathology. More recently, attention has turned to the etiology of AS per se. The prese nt study tested several related etiological hypotheses derived from Expecta ncy theory. S. Reiss and R. J. McNally (1985) originally proposed that grea ter physiological reactivity would increase risk for developing heightened AS. Reactive individuals are believed to have greater opportunity to percei ve unpleasant bodily perturbations, thereby increasing the likelihood that concerns and fears could be attached to the sensations. Nonclinical partici pants (N = 86) completed physical (e.g., orthostatic) and biological (e.g., 35% CO2) challenges and a heart beat perception task. AS was not related t o heart beat perception but was related to greater tonic heart rate and gre ater diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity to both the challenges. High er DBP and higher heart beat accuracy interacted to predict higher AS.