Anxiety Sensitivity and Anxious Responding to Bodily Sensations: A Test among Adolescents Using a Voluntary Hyperventilation Challenge

This study examined the general factor and lower-order facets of the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI; W. K. Silverman, W. Flesig, B. Rabian, & R. A. Peterson, 1991) in relation to anxious and fearful responding to a 3-min voluntary hyperventilation procedure. Participants were 151 psychologically healthy adolescents (66 females), as indexed by a screening using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual—Fourth Edition (DSM-IV): Child Version (ADIS-C; W. K. Silverman & A. M. Albano, 1996), between the ages of 12 and 17 (M = 14.93). Results indicated, relative to negative affectivity and prechallenge ratings of anxiety, both the global factor and the Disease Concerns facet of the CASI significantly predicted postchallenge anxiety and intensity of panic symptoms. CASI total and subfactor scores were unrelated to psychophysiological responding to the challenge. Results are discussed in relation to panic-relevant emotional vulnerability among adolescents.