Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401, USA.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2012 Dec;15(6):413-22. doi: 10.1007/s00737-012-0302-2. Epub 2012 Aug 25.
The current study examined the interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of anxiety and anxiety-related sensations) and menstrual cycle phase (premenstrual phase vs. follicular phase) on panic-relevant responding (i.e., cognitive and physical panic symptoms, subjective anxiety, and skin conductance level). Women completed a baseline session and underwent a 3-min 10 % CO(2)-enriched air biological challenge paradigm during her premenstrual and follicular menstrual cycle phases. Participants were 55 women with no current or past history of panic disorder recruited from the general community (M (age) = 26.18, SD = 8.9) who completed the biological challenge during both the premenstrual and follicular cycle phases. Results revealed that women higher on AS demonstrated increased cognitive panic symptoms in response to the challenge during the premenstrual phase as compared to the follicular phase, and as compared to women lower on AS assessed in either cycle phase. However, the interaction of AS and menstrual cycle phase did not significantly predict physical panic attack symptoms, subjective ratings of anxiety, or skin conductance level in response to the challenge. Results are discussed in the context of premenstrual exacerbations of cognitive, as opposed to physical, panic attack symptoms for high AS women, and the clinical implications of these findings.
本研究考察了焦虑敏感（AS；对焦虑和焦虑相关感觉的恐惧）和月经周期阶段（经前期 vs. 卵泡期）对惊恐相关反应（即认知和身体惊恐症状、主观焦虑和皮肤电导率）的交互作用。女性在经前期和卵泡期完成了基线会话，并接受了 3 分钟 10% CO2 富气生物挑战范式。参与者是来自普通社区的 55 名没有当前或过去惊恐障碍病史的女性（M（年龄）= 26.18，SD = 8.9），她们在经前期和卵泡期都完成了生物挑战。结果表明，AS 较高的女性在经前期对挑战的认知性惊恐症状反应高于卵泡期，也高于在任何一个周期阶段评估的 AS 较低的女性。然而，AS 和月经周期阶段的相互作用并没有显著预测对挑战的身体性惊恐发作症状、主观焦虑评分或皮肤电导率。结果在经前期加重高 AS 女性的认知性、而非身体性惊恐发作症状的背景下进行了讨论，并讨论了这些发现的临床意义。
