Abstract

The concept of Anxiety Sensitivity(AS) can be interpreted as the degree with which one reacts sensitively to signs or symptoms of anxiety. According to Reins who developed the concept, AS is defined as fear of anxiety symptoms based upon the belief that these are followed by harmful consequences. AS is one of fundamental fears which usually amplify the common fears in everyday life. Consistent with this theoretical formulation, the core concept of AS is that it acts as an inner amplifier of anxiety signals. According to factor analytic study, AS has a hierarchical structure, consisting of at least three factors, loading on a single higher order factor. The content of the lower-order factors suggests that the mechanisms of fear amplification may be classified to the source of anxiety signals such as somatic, cognitive, social domains. On the other hand, the arguments that AS is not different from trait anxiety have challenged the construct validity of AS. Therefore it is the task of current AS researches to rule out the influence of trait anxiety as an alternative explanation. In spite of the challenge, AS as an amplifier of anxiety signals has proven its conceptual utility in explaining the etiology and maintenance of the panic disorders. Various researches on the nonclinical or clinical panic attack phenomenon consistently have reported that AS is a stable variable that covaries with the panic. Through the longitudinal designs, it has been proven that AS is a critical premorbid risk facts for panic disorders, suggesting the causal role of AS. From these reviews on AS, future research directions can be deduced. The most urgent task is to replicate in Korea the basic finding that AS is heightened only in panic disorder, not in other anxiety disorders. Based upon this finding, subsequent issues and interests as followings can be answered through relevant researches; 1) the interaction of AS with pure anxiety symptoms, 2) the relationship between subfactors of AS and panic disorders, 3) extension of AS index and its validation against external criterion.