Understanding the Connection Between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Respiratory Problems: Contributions of Anxiety Sensitivity

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bromet EJ ; Farris SG ; Gonzalez A ; Kotov R ; Luft BJ ; Mahaffey BL ; Zvolensky MJ
• Description:
  Respiratory problems and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are the signature health consequences associated with the September 11, 2001 (9/11),World Trade Center disaster and frequently co-occur. The reasons for this comorbidity, however, remain unknown. Anxiety sensitivity is a transdiagnostic trait that is associated with both PTSD and respiratory symptoms. The present study explored whether anxiety sensitivity could explain the experience of respiratory symptoms in trauma-exposed smokers with PTSD symptoms. Participants (N = 135; Mage = 49.18 years, SD = 10.01) were 9/11-exposed daily smokers. Cross-sectional self-report measures were used to assess PTSD symptoms, anxiety sensitivity, and respiratory symptoms. After controlling for covariates and PTSD symptoms, anxiety sensitivity accounted for significant additional variance in respiratory symptoms (deltaR2 = .04 to .08). This effect was specific to the somatic concerns dimension (B= .29, p = .020); somatic concerns contributed significantly to accounting for the overlap between PTSD and respiratory symptoms, b = 0.03, 95% CI [0.01, 0.07]. These findings suggest that the somatic dimension of anxiety sensitivity is important in understanding respiratory symptoms in individuals with PTSD symptoms. These findings also suggest that it may be critical to address anxiety sensitivity when treating patients with comorbid respiratory problems and PTSD. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Men Mental Health Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks Smokers Women
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Disaster Sites Humans Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Psychological Effects PTSD Respiratory System Disorders Smoking Somatic Nervous System Traumatic Injuries World Trade Center WTC

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• ISSN:
  0894-9867
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Rhode Island ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  71-79
• Volume:
  30
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051018
• Citation:
  J Trauma Stress 2017 Feb; 30(1):71-79
• Contact Point Address:
  Brittain L. Mahaffey, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Putnam Hall, CB# 8790, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794
• Email:
  Brittain.Mahaffey@stonybrook.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Traumatic Stress
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:00dc49b73e3311e390eb345519dc9fc9185ee8ab926c7c814e698dc7468147660fd44417d4a5b70b21ab5da8774fea1c10413d65645ddf73c55a69b9b63b335f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211159/cdc_211159_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 159.14 KB ]