Factor mixture modeling of anxiety sensitivity: a three-class structure

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a multidimensional construct composed of several lower order factors and has been implicated in the development and maintenance of anxiety and depression symptoms and disorders. Recently, it has been suggested that AS is a dimensional-categorical construct, reflecting classes of individuals with different levels of and relations between AS factors. Factor mixture modeling was applied to examine the latent structure of AS in a sample of 1,151 college students (M age = 18.88, SD = 1.91). Results indicated that the best fitting model comprised three classes consisting of individuals with normative AS (n = 953), moderate AS (n = 124), and high AS (n = 74). Relations among the factors appeared to be different across groups, with the highest relations found in the normative AS class and the lowest relations found in the high AS class. There were significant differences in mean levels of anxiety and depression symptoms across classes, with the exception of social anxiety disorder symptoms. This study was the first to find and provide support for a third AS class. Implications for research and clinical utility are discussed, including the benefit of developing cut scores for AS classes based on this and similar studies.