Anxiety Sensitivity in Dermatological Patients

Abstract

Background: Anxiety symptoms commonly occur in dermatological patients and can affect the severity of dermatological symptoms. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as the fear of anxiety symptoms, is a well-supported cognitive vulnerability factor that may be particularly significant in these patients.

Objective: This study compared the severity of AS between patients with psychodermatological (e.g., psoriasis) and nonpsychodermatological disorders (e.g., skin cancer). It was predicted that individuals with psychodermatological disorders would evidence significantly greater AS compared to individuals with nonpsychodermatological disorders.

Method: Adults presenting to outpatient dermatology clinics with psychodermatological (n = 63) and nonpsychodermatological (n = 52) conditions completed self-report questionnaires assessing sociodemographic characteristics, general anxiety, and AS.

Results: Individuals with psychodermatological conditions reported significantly greater AS compared to individuals with nonpsychodermatological conditions (p < 0.05). Social concerns of AS emerged as the only significant factor that differentiated these categories of dermatological diseases, odds ratio = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.24, after adjusting for general anxiety.

Conclusions: These findings contribute to an advancing area of research linking AS and physical health problems. The results suggest that adjunctive cognitive-behavioral treatments targeting AS reductions could help patients with psychodermatological conditions.

Keywords: anxiety; anxiety sensitivity; dermatology; psychosomatics.