Anxiety sensitivity in anxious youth: Do children with separation anxiety differ?

Abstract

Studies on the proposed link between separation anxiety disorder in childhood (SAD) and panic disorder (PD) have yielded mixed results, suggesting that there is perhaps a missing link between these disorders. We examined whether anxiety sensitivity could be a potential key element in the relationship between SAD and PD. Anxiety sensitivity levels of three hundred and fifteen clinic-referred children (ages 6-17) were evaluated, using the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI). One hundred forty five children (46%) were diagnosed with at least one anxiety disorder, including SAD (n = 22), generalized anxiety disordered (GAD) (n = 79), social phobia (SOP) (n = 55) and specific phobia (SP) (n = 45). Children with SAD reported higher levels of anxiety sensitivity than children with SP and SOP, but not children with GAD. An unexpected finding was that children diagnosed with both SAD and GAD reported the highest levels of anxiety sensitivity found in the study. An examination of the factor structure of the CASI reveled that it is the fear of physical symptoms of anxiety that drives the difference in anxiety sensitivity between SAD and the other anxiety disorders. It may therefore be possible that some children who have the combination of SAD and high anxiety sensitivity might be more likely to develop PD inthe future, given the similar symptomatology between these disorders.