Cluster analysis of anxiety sensitivity among adults who smoke

Anxiety sensitivity, the fear of anxiety-related sensations due to beliefs that they will cause elicit harmful consequences, has emerged as an important factor in understanding the complex relations between cigarette smoking and the co-occurrence of mental/physical health concerns. Anxiety sensitivity research has focused on the global construct, with less attention given to individual lower-order dimensions. Yet, individuals vary in the degree to which they experience fears about physical, mental, and social concerns. This study examined whether individuals who smoke cluster into distinct groups based on their levels of anxiety sensitivity and, if so, their relations to mental health symptoms and smoking processes. Participants included 570 adults who smoked cigarettes daily. Results indicated that there were three homogeneous clusters ("Very High," "Moderate," and "Low") that were consistent across all anxiety sensitivity dimensions. There were group differences between the clusters, with the "Very High" group showing elevated negative emotional symptoms relative to the other two clusters. There were also differences for various smoking processes. The findings suggest that a more comprehensive approach to modeling anxiety sensitivity can be achieved using cluster analysis and that distinct groups evince theoretically aligned and clinically significant relations to mental health and smoking processes..