Intensity and frequency dimensions of competitive state anxiety.

Swain A, Jones G.

Department of Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management, Loughborough University of Technology, UK.

This study reports a preliminary investigation of intensity and frequency of symptoms of competitive state anxiety. Forty-nine track and field athletes (27 males, 22 females) responded to a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) on four occasions during the period leading up to an important competition: 2 days, 1 day, 2 h and within 30 min of competing. The questionnaire included the existing CSAI-2 (intensity) scale as well as a frequency scale for each of the 27 items of the CSAI-2. The intensity and frequency dimensions of each of the CSAI-2-sub-scales were then compared between the four conditions by means of two-way analyses of variance (gender x time-to-competition). In the case of cognitive anxiety, time-to-event effects were observed for intensity and frequency for both males and females. The intensity of the response was significantly greater at the final stage of testing than it was 2 days before competition, while the frequency of the response increased progressively throughout the experimental period. This dissociative patterning for the cognitive anxiety dimensions is discussed in the light of Multidimensional Anxiety Theory predictions. For somatic anxiety, the time-to-event effects that emerged for intensity and frequency revealed that both values increased progressively as the time to compete neared, for both male and females. The results for self-confidence revealed no effects for intensity or frequency for either gender. The findings from structured follow-up interviews served to corroborate these quantitative findings by providing information that supported the conclusions drawn from the questionnaire data. In particular, the athletes reported that they experienced considerable increases in the frequency of intrusive anxiety cognitions. While these findings clearly need to be substantiated, they do provide evidence of the existence of an additional dimension of anxiety that may assist our understanding of this complex concept. The measurement of competitive state anxiety may benefit from this more detailed approach as opposed to the rather limited intensity-alone perspective.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8114179&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Smoking related to anxiety and depression in Greek medical staff.

Tselebis A, Papaleftheris E, Balis E, Theotoka I, Ilias I.

9th Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sotiria Hospital, Athens, Greece.

We assessed the relation of anxiety and depression to smoking behavior in a sample of 80 physicians and surgeons, using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. 27 doctors were nonsmokers, 14 were former smokers, and 39 were current smokers. Current smokers showed significantly higher Anxiety and Depression scores compared to nonsmokers and former smokers, while the latter presented significantly lower Anxiety scores than nonsmokers. In current smokers, the daily quota of cigarettes was not correlated with Anxiety or Depression scores. From our results we can hypothesize that, among medical staff, smoking behavior is more anxiety-related than depression-related. In conclusion, we believe that interventions such as stress management techniques could be effective in lessening Anxiety and diminishing the need for relief searched for in smoking.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12785636&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Fear of hypoglycemia in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.

Costea M, Ionescu-Tirgoviste C, Cheta D, Mincu I.

N.C. Paulescu Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, Bucharest, Romania.

A clinical-psychological study was carried out in 224 insulin-dependent diabetic patients, distributed into two groups according to the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes. Group. A included 124 patients, 65 men and 59 women (mean age 35 +/- 18 years), who reported frequent episodes of hypoglycemia (HG). In the 100 patients of group B (46 men and 54 women with a mean age of 37 +/- 10 years), the HG episodes were only occasional. The degree and type of anxiety were evaluated using: (1) a semistructured interview to determine the HG frequency and intensity; (2) the anxiety scale for HG, with two sections: a) 15 items about the behaviour to prevent HG occurrence and b) 10 items for the anxiety level; (3) the questionnaire of anxiety with 40 items. Highly significant differences between groups were found for the degree of anxiety about HG, particularly for the frequency of high anxiety scores (with ideative ruminations or generalized anxiety, accompanied or not by agoraphobia) (73.86% in group A versus 34.09% in group B; p < 0.001). Relatively significant differences were recorded with respect to the compliance to treatment (preventive behaviour for HG) as well as for the anxiety index (47.95% in group A versus 33.45% in group B), with a prevalence of the covered anxiety in group A and of the overt anxiety scores, indicating a dissimilation tendency of the adaptative role of anxiety as a signal of communication.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8148782&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Prevalence and characteristics of dental anxiety in Danish adults.

Moore R, Birn H, Kirkegaard E, Brodsgaard I, Scheutz F.

Dept. of Oral Epidemiology and Public Health, Royal Dental College, Faculty of Health Sciences, Arhus University, Denmark.

Prevalence, characteristics and consequences of dental anxiety in a randomly selected sample of 645 Danish adults were explored in telephone interviews. Participation rate was 88%. Demographics, fear of specific procedures, negative dentist contacts, general fear tendency, treatment utilization and perceived oral conditions were explored by level of dental anxiety using a modified Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS). A Seattle fear survey item and a summary item from the Dental Fear Survey (DFS) were also included for fear description comparisons. Correlation between these indices (DAS-DFS: rs = 0.72; DAS-Seattle item: rs = 0.68) aided semantic validation of DAS anxiety intensity levels. Extreme dental anxiety (DAS > or = 15) was found in 4.2% of the sample and 6% reported moderate anxiety (DAS scores 14-12). Bivariate (B) and logistic regression (L) odds ratios (OR) showed that high dental anxiety was associated with gender, education and income, but not with age. Extreme dental anxiety for dentate subjects was characterized by fear of drilling (ORL = 38.7), negative dentist contacts (ORL = 9.3), general fear tendency (ORL = 3.4), avoidance of treatment (ORL = 16.8) and increased oral symptoms (ORB = 4.4). Moderate dental anxiety was also related to drilling (ORL = 22.3), but with less avoidance due to anxiety (ORL = 6.8) compared with low fear subjects.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8222604&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Anxiety and motor performance in Parkinson's disease.

Siemers ER, Shekhar A, Quaid K, Dickson H.

Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.

Previous work has suggested that anxiety disorders are common in patients with Parkinson's disease. To study the relationship between anxiety and response fluctuations in Parkinson's patients further, we compared changes in Spielberger anxiety state scores with changes in parkinsonian disability as determined by the Parkinson's symptom diary (PSD). Anxiety state and PSD scores were obtained in 19 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease during on and off periods. Spielberger anxiety state scores were higher during off periods than during on periods (38.8 +/- 12.4 vs. 45.6 +/- 12.4, p < 0.03); further, the magnitude of the change in anxiety state scores was correlated with the change in PSD scores (rs = 0.616, p = 0.006). Spielberger anxiety trait scores were also correlated with disease duration. Our findings support existing data suggesting that anxiety can contribute significantly to morbidity in Parkinson's disease and suggest that anxiety varies with fluctuations in motor performance.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8232361&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




AIDS anxieties of adolescents: determinants of "state" and "trait" anxiety dimensions in a linear structural model.

Strehlow U, Kampmann G.

Department of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany.

This study presents the effects of general psychologic characteristics on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) anxieties and sexual behaviour of adolescents. To this end, data were collected in a complex interview and subsequently subjected to a linear structural model analysis. The questioned adolescents were divided into one representative group (n = 256) and a second group who had participated in a voluntary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody test (n = 45). AIDS anxieties have to be divided into two independent dimensions: first, a relatively stable feeling of AIDS anxiety (trait anxiety) and second, a manifest personal anxiety toward AIDS experienced in a concrete situation (state anxiety). A principal component analysis of the primary data brought forth four variables described as depression/general anxiety, extent of phobic anxieties, compulsion, and tendency to self-consciousness. The present study reveals that the AIDS trait anxiety is more pronounced among those subjects who are not well informed about AIDS, who tend to phobic anxieties, and who observe themselves in a particularly intensive manner. The AIDS state anxiety however, is stronger among subjects who are well informed about AIDS, have sexual experience, and observe themselves intensively. Among the participants who took part in the HIV test, there were more individuals with a higher manifest AIDS anxiety and stronger tendency to depression. The percentage of adolescents who were indeed exposed to a possible risk of getting infected was relatively low. Generally speaking, those young people who are depressed, anxious, and sexually active agreed more easily to take the test than young people with a pronounced phobia toward the risk of infection and less sexual experience. As a conclusion, we can state that those adolescents with less sexual experience tend to externalize their general sexual anxieties in the form of concrete AIDS anxieties.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8241206&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Differences in anger expression between individuals with and without headache after controlling for depression and anxiety.

Nicholson RA, Gramling SE, Ong JC, Buenevar L.

Department of Community and Family Medicine, St. Louis University School of Medicine, 1402 S. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether anger and anger expression are different between persons with and without headache after controlling for depression and anxiety. BACKGROUND: Persons with headache may experience more problems with anger and its expression when compared with persons without headache. It is important to establish whether differences exist for persons with and without headache on trait anger and anger expression independent of depression and anxiety. To date, however, this issue has received little attention in the empirical literature. The current study measured trait anger, anger-in, hostility, anxiety, and depression among persons with and without headache, and evaluated whether trait anger and anger-in differentiated groups independent of depression and anxiety. METHODS: Participants were 422 adults recruited from a larger study within a university setting. Of those, 171 suffered from headache (mean age, 21 years; 81% were female; 69% were white; mean years with pain, 7.53). Another 251 sex-matched individuals (mean age, 21 years; 81% female; 62% white) met criteria for the headache-free group. Participants provided information regarding their headache characteristics and were administered affective trait measures (Trait version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory-Depression), trait anger measures (Trait Anger Scale, Cook-Medley Hostility Scale), and a measure of the extent to which individuals hold their anger in. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences between the 2 groups (Wilks lambda =.86, P <.001, eta2 =.14). Step-down analysis revealed that even after controlling for all other variables, those in the headache group had higher levels of anger-in (P <.001, eta2 =.08; mean, 18.98 versus 15.68). Trait anger and hostility did not differ between groups after controlling for depression and anxiety. Logistic regression revealed that anger-in contributed most to predicting headache status (P <.001; partial r =.23). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings indicate that persons with headache hold their anger in more than those without headache even after controlling for levels of trait anger, depression, and anxiety. However, after controlling for depression and anxiety, individuals no longer differed on trait anger. Also, anger-in was the strongest predictor of headache. The current findings suggest that holding anger in is more common among headache sufferers. Given recent findings regarding the negative effect of holding anger in among persons with pain conditions, this may be an important factor to evaluate when considering psychological/emotional factors affecting headache.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12786926&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Parkinson's disease and anxiety: comorbidity with depression.

Menza MA, Robertson-Hoffman DE, Bonapace AS.

Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson University Medical School, New Brunswick 08903.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is frequently accompanied by symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, the relationship between anxiety and depression has not been rigorously defined in these patients. In this study, 42 patients with PD and 21 matched medical controls were evaluated using DSM-III-R criteria and a variety of psychiatric rating scales. Twelve (29%) PD patients but only one medical control had a formal anxiety disorder diagnosis. Of the 12 patients with PD who had an anxiety disorder diagnosis, 11 (92%) had a comorbid depressive disorder diagnosis. Of the 18 patients with a depressive disorder, 12 (67%) also had an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Furthermore, a stepwise regression analysis found that the depression measure explained 44% of the variance in anxiety measures whereas neither the severity of illness variables nor the levodopa dose contributed significantly to the variance. This study suggests that the excess anxiety found in PD patients is unlikely to be primarily a psychologic reaction to the illness or a side effect of levodopa treatment. Rather, we suggest that anxiety and depression are related manifestations of the underlying neurochemical changes of PD itself.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8268331&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine




Distinguishing mixed anxiety/depression from anxiety and depressive groups using the family history method.

Reich J.

Department of Psychiatry, Brown University, Providence, RI.

The relationship between anxiety and depression has long been discussed and studied. Although it appears that there are pure forms of these disorders, several investigators have suggested that there is a separate combined anxiety/depression disorder distinct from either individual disorder. Several attempts have been made to investigate this distinction using family history methods. This report compares an anxiety/depression group to a depression-only group and anxiety-only group in a veteran population (n = 71) using the family history method. The depression group was clearly differentiated from the anxiety/depression group on the variables of generalized anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse. There was also discrimination between the anxiety and anxiety/depression groups on the DSM-III-R anxious personality disorder cluster. This is the first report in this area of the literature to use standardized family history methods that include personality disorder clusters.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8306636&dopt=Abstract anxiety medicine