The role of anxiety sensitivity in chronic illness and various aspects of medication usage

Čović, Marina. (2016). The role of anxiety sensitivity in chronic illness and various aspects of medication usage. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Jurin, Tanja].

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the severity of anxiety sensitivity due to the presence of a chronic condition and use of various kinds of medications over time. The study was conducted on students (N=572) of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in University of Zagreb, where the repeated measurements tested their level of anxiety sensitivity and asked about their health condition and medication usage. The results show a trend of higher levels of anxiety sensitivity in the group of participants who developed a chronic condition over a period of three years. Also, statistical results indicate that not all of the physical symptoms are associated with anxiety sensitivity, but only those that are associated with pain and mental distress, while those associated with allergies and inflammation are not. Levels of anxiety sensitivity and its dimensions changed over a period of three years in group of participants who occasionally use analgesics and sedatives, by an increase of these measures. Findings further indicate that individuals with clinically high levels of anxiety sensitivity, on average, at the same time use a greater amount of different types of medications in relation to a group of low anxiety sensitive participants. The two groups of participants did not differ in how often they used medications.

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