Downloaded By: [Broman-Fulks, Joshua J.] At: 18:38 19 March 2008 Evaluation of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity JOSHUA J. BROMAN-FULKS, & KATELYN M. STOREY Department of Psychology, Appalachian State University, USA Abstract Anxiety sensitivity, or the belief that anxiety-related sensations can have negative consequences, has been shown to play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of panic disorder and other anxiety-related pathology. Aerobic exercise involves exposure to physiological cues similar to those experienced during anxiety reactions. The present study sought to investigate the efficacy of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity. Accordingly, 24 participants with high anxiety sensitivity scores (Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised scores 28) were randomly assigned to complete either six 20-minute sessions of aerobic exercise or a no-exercise control condition. The results indicated that individuals assigned to the aerobic exercise condition reported significantly less anxiety sensitivity subsequent to exercise, whereas anxiety sensitivity scores among non-exercisers did not significantly change. The clinical research and public health implications of these findings are discussed, and several potential directions for additional research are recommended. Keywords: Anxiety sensitivity, exercise, panic, aerobic, anxiety Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of anxiety and anxiety-related sensations, has been shown to play an important role in the development and maintenance of panic attacks, panic disorder, and other anxiety and Axis I disorders (e.g., Ehlers, 1995; Schmidt, Lerew, & Jackson, 1997; Schmidt, Zvolensky, & Maner, 2006). As such, researchers have begun to search for interventions that can effectively reduce anxiety sensitivity, and, in turn, minimize the incidence of various forms of psychopathology. To date, the vast majority of the anxiety sensitivity treatment literature has focused on investigating the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on anxiety sensitivity, and the results have been promising. For example, several studies have found that 10 to 12 sessions of CBT can generate significant reductions in anxiety sensitivity among patients with anxiety disorders (e.g., McNally & Lorenz, 1987; Telch et al., 1993). In addition, 2 days of intensive CBT (i.e., 9 hours) have also been shown to produce a significant drop in anxiety sensitivity scores among panic patients (Deacon & Abramowitz, 2006). Most recently, a brief CBT paradigm, consisting primarily of psychoeducational components, was shown to signifi- cantly reduce anxiety sensitivity and risk for the development of Axis I disorders at 2-year follow-up (Schmidt et al., 2007). Aerobic exercise has been shown to be an effective and cost-efficient treatment alternative for a variety of anxiety and mood disorders, including panic disorder (for a review, see Correspondence: Joshua J. Broman-Fulks, Department of Psychology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608, USA. E-mail: bromanfulksj@appstate.edu ISSN 1061-5806 print/ISSN 1477-2205 online # 2008 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/10615800701762675 Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, April 2008; 21(2): 117128