Anxiety sensitivity and psychological distress among hypertensive patients: the mediating role of experiential avoidance.
Psychol Health Med
; 26(6): 701-710, 2021 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32397750
ABSTRACT
Hypertension is often associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes and psychological factors have been advanced for better explanatory models and to enhance the development of effective interventions in the treatment of hypertensive patients. Although the link between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and poor mental health outcomes has been established, the mechanism through which it results in psychological distress (PD) is not yet well understood. In addition to investigating the direct associations of AS and experiential avoidance (EA) to PD, the present study examines whether AS predicts adverse mental health outcomes via EA. Hypertensive patients (N = 240; women = 135; Mean age = 41.09, SD = 9.11 years) drawn from cardiology unit of a Nigerian teaching hospital completed the following measures:
Psychological Distress Scale, Anxiety Sensitivity Index - 3, and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire. Results showed that that greater AS and greater EA predicted increased PD, even when controlling for age and gender. The mediation hypothesis was further supported suggesting that the association between AS with increase in PD was a function of heightened EA. These findings are consistent with the notion that acceptance of daily experiences may serve to buffer against the potential adverse mental health outcomes and may be a critical target for interventions to ameliorate PD in patients with chronic health conditions such as hypertension. Psychological interventions that deals with experiential avoidance could be used in the management of distressed hypertensive patients.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Angústia Psicológica
/
Hipertensão
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Female
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychol Health Med
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Nigéria