First Name:
Krystal
Last Name:
Trout
Major Department:
Psychology/Sociology
Thesis Director:
Joshua Broman-Fulks
Date of Thesis:
May 2010
This thesis aims to examine gender differences in the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3(ASI-3). Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to the fear of anxiety and related sensations arising from beliefs that these sensations are associated with negative physical, psychological, and social outcomes. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) has traditionally been the most commonly used measure of AS. However, researchers have noted that the ASI contains too few items to reliably assess the various facets of AS. In an effort to improve AS measurement, researchers published the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3) which has been shown to be a better measure of the general anxiety sensitivity construct and the lower order factors than the ASI. Previous research on the ASI revealed gender differences in AS scores, with females scoring higher on total scores and the Physical Concerns factor. Although recent research appears to indicate that the factor structure of the current ASI-3 does not vary as a function of gender, little is known about whether the gender differences noted witht he previous versions of the ASI continue to hold true for the ASI-3. Further, previous psychometric research of the ASI-3 has only examined ASI-3 properties in undergraduate samples. Thus, the purpose of the present study ws to compare the pattern of ASI-3 total and factor scores across genders using a large community sample of 985 adults, ranging in age from 18 to 85 years. Results indicated that females scored significantly higher than males on Total ASI-3 scores and on the Physical and Cognitive Concerns subscales (p<0.01), and marginally higher on Social Concerns (p=0.06). Females and males demonstrated similar patterns withing groups, scoring highest on the Social Concerns subscale, followed by the Physical Concerns, and Cognitive Concerns subscales. The present study raises concerns regarding the validity of the ASI-3 instrument norms in the published literature given that the vast majority of the psychometric research on AS measures has been conducted on university samples. Suggestions for future research are given.