The psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure in social anxiety disorder

The Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM) was developed to assess hypersensitivity to interpersonal rejection, a suggested trait of depression-prone personality (Aust NZ J Psychiatry 23 (1989) 341). Although studies of the IPSM and interpersonal rejection sensitivity have primarily been conducted in depressed populations, it is important to investigate interpersonal rejection sensitivity as a relevant construct in the assessment of social anxiety. This study examined the psychometric properties of the IPSM in treatment-seeking individuals with social anxiety disorder. The results of this investigation support the convergent and divergent validity and internal consistency of the IPSM in socially anxious individuals. An exploratory factor analysis of the scale was also conducted after the original factor and subscale structure was shown to be a poor fit for the present data. Three factors emerged (Interpersonal Worry and Dependency, Low Self-Esteem, and Unassertive Interpersonal Behavior), and 29 items were retained. Because they demonstrated negative factor loadings on Factor 2, it is suggested that the scoring for four items of the original IPSM be reversed. In summary, the revised IPSM assesses three aspects of interpersonal rejection sensitivity and appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for its assessment in social anxiety disorder.     

The Effects of Rejection Sensitivity on Reactive and Proactive Aggression

The aim of this research was to use a pure measure of aggression to clarify whether rejection sensitive children exhibit higher levels of aggressive behavior than those who are not as rejection sensitive and to examine whether the components of rejection sensitivity (RS) vary according to the types of aggression. A total of 287 Australian primary school students aged between 9 and 12 completed self‐report measures of RS and aggression. As expected, RS and its components, angry and anxious expectations of rejection, were linked to generalized aggression (GA) in adolescents, with angry expectations being more strongly associated with GA and in particular, proactive aggression. As expected, RS predicted reactive aggression better than it did proactive aggression and a three‐way interaction was found whereby the relationship between the type of RS and aggression differed as a function of the type of aggression. The present study offers new evidence to support the theory that RS is predictive of aggressive behavior in children and clarifies some confusion about the attributional affect and processes behind this behavior. The findings both support and extend existing research in the areas of RS and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 39:3‐12, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Disagreeable narcissism mediates an effect of BAS on addictive behaviors

Some forms of personality dysfunction that are associated with substance use and other externalizing behaviors, such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder, are characterized by low five-factor Agreeableness. Low Agreeableness and high Extraversion are both associated with the Behavioral Approach System in the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality (RST; McNaughton & Corr, 2008). Meta-analyses examining personality predictors of Substance Use Disorders (Kotov et al., 2010) and Pathological Gambling (MacLaren et al., 2011) have implicated low Agreeableness but not Extraversion. In the present study, we sampled undergraduate students (N = 346) to examine relationships between two aspects of grandiose narcissism measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), approach motivation measured by the BIS/BAS scales, and self-reported addictive behaviors. Disagreeable and Extraverted subscales of the NPI were examined for possible mediation of associations between BAS and addictive behaviors. The more disagreeable aspect of narcissism mediated the effects of BAS on drug use, gambling, sex, and maladaptive intimate relationships. These results suggest that one mechanism through which the Behavioral Approach System may promote addictive behavior among grandiose Narcissists is through its association with their aggressive and antagonistic interpersonal style.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory and symptoms of personality disorder: Specificity of the BIS in Cluster C and BAS in Cluster B

Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory, consisting of the behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral activation (BAS), is frequently used to represent basic dimensions of psychopathology. However, notably few investigations have examined the link between the BIS/BAS and symptoms of personality disorder (PD). Although the Fight-Flight-Freeze System has emerged in the revised model as an important aspect of motivation, the BIS (linked to anxiety) and BAS (linked to impulsivity) have been the primary foci. The current investigation uses a dimensional measure of PD, the schedule for nonadaptive and adaptive personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993) applied to two independent samples of English-speaking participants: undergraduates (n = 276) and clinical patients (n = 47). Results were consistent across both samples, demonstrating that symptoms of Cluster B PDs are indicative of high BAS levels whereas symptoms of Cluster C PDs are characterized by high BIS levels.     

Evaluating the Iowa Gambling Task as a direct assessment of impulsivity with low-income children

This study examined performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994) as a measure of low-income school-aged children’s affective decision-making and considered its utility as a direct indicator of impulsivity. One hundred and ninety-three 8–11 year olds performed a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task, a validated measure of decision-making. Multi-level modeling was used to examine children’s performance over the course of the task, with age, gender, and teachers’ ratings of child impulsivity (BIS-11; Patton, Stanford, & Barratt, 1995) used to predict children’s Iowa Gambling performance. Higher impulsivity scores predicted a decrease in slope of Iowa Gambling performance, indicating students rated higher on impulsivity chose more disadvantageously across the task blocks. Results support evidence of the validity of the Iowa Gambling Task as a measure of impulsivity in low-income minority children.     

Maternal Sensitivity and Anxiety: Impacts on Child Outcome

ABSTRACT

Children of anxious parents have been shown to be at an increased risk of developing an anxiety disorder. Thus, it is critically important to identify factors that increase or decrease that risk. The depression literature has shown that maternal sensitivity decreases negative child outcome associated with maternal depression. The current study was designed to determine whether maternal sensitivity may buffer children of anxious mothers in a similar way. Three hypotheses were tested. First, that anxious mothers would display less sensitivity than nonanxious mothers in interactions with their children; that there would be an interaction between sensitivity and anxiety on child outcome; and that sensitivity would account for variance in child outcome beyond that attributed to anxiety. One hundred and twenty-five mothers (75 anxious) and their children (ages 3–12) completed the study. Mothers were administered the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-IV and Parent, and a subset also completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Children completed the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Child. Dyads also engaged in two interaction tasks (one cognitive, one social) which were coded for maternal sensitivity and three child outcome behaviors. Results showed that anxious mothers displayed less sensitivity in the social task but not in the cognitive task. An interaction between anxiety and sensitivity was found only when predicting child negativity in the social task. Finally, maternal sensitivity was found to account for variance in child outcome beyond that of anxiety. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Strategic and Automatic Threat Processing in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Startle Probe Investigation

Attentional bias research with chronic pain samples has yielded conflicting results. In the present investigation the startle paradigm was used to test the postulate that fear‐based mechanisms play an important role in attentional biases for pain‐related threat in chronic pain. Participants, including 31 individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain and 20 healthy controls, completed a startle task designed to measure attention to different types of words (neutral vs sensory pain vs affective pain vs health catastrophe) presented at different levels of cognitive processing (strategic vs automatic). Measures of fear‐based individual difference variables, including anxiety sensitivity and fear of pain, were also completed. Startle amplitudes and latencies to acoustic startle probes that followed word presentations were recorded. Data were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVAs and correlational analysis. Significant between‐group differences were found indicating that, relative to chronic pain participants, healthy controls had higher startle amplitude index scores for health catastrophe words. There was also a trend among patients with chronic pain for greater startle amplitude index scores for strategic presentations of sensory pain words. In the automatic condition, all participants demonstrated a lower startle latency index for sensory words relative to both affect and health catastrophe words, suggesting participants had more difficulty disengaging from affect and health catastrophe words or were more avoidant of sensory words. Correlational analyses indicated that startle response indices for words related to health catastrophe became more pronounced for chronic pain patients as anxiety sensitivity and fear of pain increased. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Book Reviews

Panic attacks and depression frequently co‐occur, and the presence of this co‐morbidity is often associated with worse outcomes compared with each disorder alone. Despite this, not everyone who experiences panic attacks also suffers from depression, suggesting that individual difference factors may play a role in this co‐morbidity. The purpose of this study was to provide a preliminary investigation of two such individual difference factors, examining the role of anxiety sensitivity and lack of emotional approach coping in depressive symptom severity among a non‐clinical sample of uncued panickers. A sample of 79 college students reporting the occurrence of uncued panic attacks within the past year completed a series of questionnaires assessing the lower‐order factors of anxiety sensitivity, emotional approach coping, panic attack frequency, panic‐related disability, panic symptom severity and depressive symptom severity. Participants with more severe depressive symptoms reported greater anxiety sensitivity, panic attack frequency, panic symptom severity, panic‐related disability and lack of emotional approach coping. The particular anxiety sensitivity dimension of fear of cognitive dyscontrol and lack of emotional approach coping emerged as the best predictors of depressive symptom severity. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the improved understanding of this co‐morbidity, as well as its treatment.     

The development and initial validation of the Fatigue Sensitivity Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

Currently, there is poor understanding of fatigue and the possible psychological conditions that may underlie chronic fatigue. Although substantial work has been directed to better clinically address fatigue, no work has explored individual differences in expectations or perceptions of the negative consequences associated with fatigue-related symptoms. The goals of this study were to (a) develop and (b) validate a measure of expectations or perceptions of the negative consequences associated with fatigue-related symptoms (e.g. fatigue sensitivity) across two independent samples (N = 1,827; 73.1% female; M_age = 21.68; SD = 4.54) of young adults. Results supported a 10-item measure of fatigue sensitivity, entitled the Fatigue Sensitivity Questionnaire (FSQ). The FSQ demonstrated unidimensionality, excellent internal consistency, and strong convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, the 10-item scale offers a single score that can be employed to measure fatigue sensitivity. Clinically, the FSQ may be a brief, informative, and easily disseminated measure in better understanding and capturing expectations or perceptions about the negative consequences of fatigue. As a research tool, the use of the FSQ may provide broader understanding of vulnerability factors that may influence fatigue-related health outcomes. Future research is needed to test the validity of the FSQ in other samples.     

Facets of the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index Among Serbian Youth

Data from factor analytic studies using the Child Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) suggest that global anxiety sensitivity (AS) is best represented by three or four underlying factors or facets. The aim of this study was to identify facets best representing the CASI structure in its Serbian version. Confirmatory factor analysis was used on data collected from 456 non-referred children in Serbia. A 13-item version of the CASI provided a better fit to the data than the original 18-item version. The four-factor model of the CASI-13 with disease, unsteady, mental incapacitation, and social concerns facets provided the best fits for the data and it was found to be fully invariant (configural, metric, and scalar invariance) across gender and age. Among Serbian children, hierarchical structure was found for a 13-item CASI version with a single higher-order factor of global AS represented by four underlying facets. Future research will consider these AS facets and their role in the development, maintenance, and exacerbation of anxiety symptoms in children.