Parental Threats and Anxiety Severity in Trauma-Exposed Adolescents: The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity

Introduction: The present investigation examined associations between parental threatening behaviors (i.e., threats of rejection, abandonment, and/or punishment), anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the belief that physiological sensations of anxiety are dangerous and signal imminent catastrophe), and anxiety symptom severity in a diverse sample of trauma-exposed adolescents in acute psychiatric inpatient care. We hypothesized that greater exposure to parental threatening behaviors would be associated with more severe anxiety symptoms via heightened anxiety sensitivity. Method: Participants were 50 trauma-exposed adolescents ages 12 to 17 years (52.0% female; M age = 15.1 years; 56% ethnic minority) in inpatient care who completed measures of parental threatening behaviors, anxiety sensitivity, and anxiety symptom severity. Results: Statistically significant indirect effects were found between parental threatening behaviors and anxiety symptom severity through anxiety sensitivity (ab: β = 0.15, SE = 0.06, 95%CI [0.03, 0.28]). Post-hoc exploratory analyses of the anxiety sensitivity facets revealed similar findings. Conclusion: Anxiety sensitivity partially explained the association between parental threatening behaviors and anxiety symptom severity in a trauma-exposed sample of adolescents in psychiatric inpatient care. Findings revealed that parental threatening behaviors are associated with anxiety psychopathology in this population and demonstrate the potential utility of evaluating anxiety sensitivity-focused interventions for this population.