2020-2021 Senior Honors Theses
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/8168
This collection contains theses produced by Class of 2021 Honors students
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Browsing 2020-2021 Senior Honors Theses by Subject "Anxiety sensitivity"
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Item The Relationship Between Anxiety Sensitivity and PTSD Symptom Severity Among Trauma-Exposed Inpatient Adolescents(2021-05) Amarneh, DaniaIntroduction: The present study examined the role of anxiety sensitivity in adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, above and beyond the effects of three well-established correlates for PTSD symptomatology in this population, specifically: anxiety, depression, and emotion dysregulation. The facets of anxiety sensitivity (i.e., disease concerns, unsteady concerns, mental incapacitation concerns, and social concerns) as contributors to PTSD symptom severity were also assessed. It was hypothesized that anxiety sensitivity would significantly explain variance in PTSD symptom severity above and beyond the effects of anxiety, depression, and emotion dysregulation. The disease concerns, mental incapacitation concerns, and unsteady concerns facets were expected to be the strongest predictors in this model. Methods: Adolescents recruited from a psychiatric inpatient hospital with a history of exposure to a potentially traumatic event (N = 50; 52% female; Mage = 15.06 years, SD = 1.41, range = 12 - 17; 44.0% White) completed a battery of self-report measures assessing anxiety and depressive symptoms, emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, and PTSD symptom severity. Results: The total anxiety sensitivity score did not account for a statistically significant amount of variance in PTSD symptoms above and beyond the effects of anxiety, depression, and emotion dysregulation. However, the facets of anxiety sensitivity had a statistically significant effect and accounted for an additional 10.8% of unique variance in PTSD symptoms (p = .015); the mental incapacitation concerns subscale was the only facet that emerged as a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms (b = 3.71, 95% CI [1.66, 5.77], sr2 = .10). Conclusion: The mental incapacitation concerns facet of anxiety sensitivity predicted PTSD symptom severity above and beyond other well-established risk factors among a sample of trauma-exposed psychiatric youth. These findings suggest that adolescent psychiatric inpatients may benefit from treatments targeting this cognitive risk factor.Item The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity In Mental Health Outcomes Among Trauma-Exposed College Students and Young Adults During Covid-19(2021-05) Kabel, Katherine E.Emerging literature has documented the substantial negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of college students and young adults. Although extant work has shown that those with prior trauma exposure have poorer mental health outcomes during infectious disease outbreaks, broadly, substantially less work has focused on putative mechanisms underlying these relations during COVID-19. Therefore, the current study conducted a longitudinal analysis examining the mediating effect of one such vulnerability factor, anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of behaviors or sensations related to experiencing anxiety) on the association between baseline PTSD symptom severity and fear of COVID-19, worry about COVID-19, panic, social anxiety, general depression, and suicidality during COVID-19. Participants were 41 trauma-exposed college students and young adults (68.3% female, Mage = 25.39, SD = 6.66). Results indicated that the relationship between baseline PTSD symptom severity and fear of COVID-19 and panic was mediated by AS; however, the same was not true for worry about COVID-19, social anxiety, depression, or suicidality. The current study provides novel empirical evidence that AS is an important transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for trauma-exposed individuals that longitudinally predicts COVID-19 specific and general mental health facets, which may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such findings provide additional evidence for the importance of targeting AS in the content of treatment for trauma, stress, and related disorders in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.