Anxiety sensitivity and post-traumatic stress reactions: Effects of time-varying intrusive thoughts and associated...

The present study examines the extent to which intrusive thoughts and associated distress explains the association between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and post-traumatic stress (PTS) using the "trauma film paradigm".

Participants high and low in AS viewed a 10-min film of graphic scenes of fatal traffic accidents and then underwent a 10-min thought suppression period where intrusive thoughts and associated distress about the film was assessed. Participants also kept a diary of intrusions and associated distress about the film for one-week and post-traumatic stress reactions about the film were assessed after the one-week period.

The high AS group reported greater post-traumatic stress reactions about the film a week later than the low AS group. Although the high AS group also reported more intrusion distress than the low AS group during thought suppression in the laboratory, this difference did not mediate group differences in subsequent post-traumatic stress reactions. Furthermore, the intercept and slope of intrusions and associated distress about the film during the week generally did not differentiate those high in AS from those low in AS. However, the intercept of distress during the week mediated the association between intrusion distress during thought suppression in the laboratory and post-traumatic stress reactions at the end of the week.

The present study is limited by use of an analogue sample as well as modeling trauma exposure with a film.

Distress about intrusive thoughts in proximity to the trauma and over time may be an important determinant of PTS.