Anxiety sensitivity moderates the painful effects of feeling burdensome to others

Angie S. LeRoy, Qian Lu, Michael J. Zvolensky, Jeffrey Ramirez, Christopher P. Fagundes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Perceived burdensomeness (PB), the perception of being a burden to others, is associated with pain and physical symptoms. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the fear of arousal-related sensations, arising from beliefs that the sensations may have adverse personal consequences (physical, cognitive, and social), may increase risk for pain responding, particularly in anxiety-provoking (e.g. socially threatening) contexts. Accordingly, individuals high in AS may have a stronger pain response when experiencing PB than those low in AS. Undergraduate participants (n = 262) completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3), and then were randomly assigned to re-live an experience when they were either burdensome to others (burdensome condition) or contributed equally to a group (control condition). Both social and physical self-reported pain were assessed post-manipulation. Those high in AS reported significantly higher pain ratings in the burdensome condition than the control condition; for those low in AS, pain did not change across conditions. In particular, being fearful of the physical repercussions of anxiety (AS physical concerns) while also feeling burdensome to others was associated with greater physical pain. AS may exacerbate the already painful effects of feeling burdensome to others, and may have important implications for the development of future suicide- and pain-related interventions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)126-138
Number of pages13
JournalCognitive Behaviour Therapy
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 4 2018

Keywords

  • Anxiety sensitivity
  • pain
  • perceived burdensomeness
  • self-perceived burden
  • suicide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology

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