Fear of anxiety or fear of emotions? Anxiety sensitivity is indirectly related to anxiety and depressive symptoms via emotion regulation

Abstract

Background and objectives: Both anxiety sensitivity (AS) and maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) may contribute to anxious and depressive symptoms. Given the overlap between ER and AS—They both pertain to maladaptive beliefs about emotions (BE)—We tested whether AS would demonstrate an indirect relationship with anxiety and depressive symptoms via BE and ER. Design: Participants were 150 undergraduate students who completed an online survey. Methodology: Participants completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, difficulties with emotion regulation scale, Beliefs about Emotions Questionnaire, and Depression Anxiety Stress scales. Results: Bootstrapped serial mediation analyses demonstrated that the relationship between AS and anxiety symptoms was partially attributable to BE and ER, but not to BE alone. Similarly, the relationship between AS and depressive symptoms was completely attributable to BE and ER, but not to BE alone. Supplemental analyses suggested that beliefs about the controllability of emotions/anxiety were particularly important in the indirect nature of the relationship between AS and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: AS and ER play an important role in the maintenance of anxiety and depressive symptoms. These results highlight the uncontrollability of emotions as a potentially important construct in cognitive-behavioural models of anxiety and emotion regulation. The cross-sectional design and non-clinical sample limit the generalizability of our findings; replication and extension in other samples and via experimental designs is warranted.

Keywords

• anxiety sensitivity
• emotion regulation
• anxiety
• depression
• beliefs about emotions