OBJECTIVES: Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety-related sensations based on beliefs about their harmful consequences. Despite its status as the most popular measure of AS, the anxiety sensitivity index is too abbreviated to adequately measure the somatic, cognitive, and social factor. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (ASI-R) is a revised and expanded version of the ASI that was developed to improve the assessment of AS and its dimensions. The present study was conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the Expanded Anxiety Sensitivity Index. METHODS: Five hundred sixty six community samples and 77 patients with panic disorders were enrolled in this study. All subjects completed a psychometric assessment package which included the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), ASI-R, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T). RESULTS: 1) ASI-R showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=.93). 2) ASI-R demonstrated high test-retest reliabilities (r=.82). 3) Moderate correlations were observed among ASI-R, BDI (r=.50), STAI-T (r=.41), and BAI (r=.67). 4) An exploratory factor analysis revealed four ASI-R factors. 5) Panic patients had significantly higher ASI-R scores than the community samples (t=7.787, p<.01). CONCLUSION: We found that ASI-R and its subscales had valuable internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and construct validity. These results suggest that ASI-R is a reliable and valid measuring tool of anxiety sensitivity.
Anxiety* ; Depression ; Humans ; Panic ; Panic Disorder ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensation