Decomposing the Relationship Between Anxiety Sensitivity and Alcohol Use

Objective: The misuse of alcohol is related to numerous detrimental health effects. Research has determined anxiety sensitivity (AS) to be a risk factor for problematic alcohol use. To date, no studies have investigated this relationship using a bifactor model of AS. This study used a bifactor model to determine the effects of the general AS factor and the cognitive, physical, and social concerns subfactors on alcohol-related outcomes. Method: The sample consisted of 329 participants selected from a larger sample of individuals in a brief smoking-cessation intervention. Latent factor models were used to determine the effects of the bifactor model of AS on alcohol use behavior. Results: The general AS factor was significantly associated with alcohol use problems but not alcohol consumption. The AS subfactors of cognitive, physical, and social concerns were not significantly related to either alcohol variable. Conclusions: The findings are inconsistent with previous research that has found associations between the AS subfactors and alcohol-related outcomes. The use of a bifactor model of AS allowed the variance associated with AS to be parceled out of the subfactors, indicating that general AS accounts for the relationship between AS and alcohol misuse.