Stressful Life Events, Anxiety Sensitivity, and Older Adults' Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety disorders are prevalent among older adults and have been associated with cognitive decline, coronary heart disease, and diminished quality of life. However, research on risk and protective factors has been minimal. The purpose of the present study was to examine the prospective relationship between stressful life events (SLEs), perceived stress (PSS), anxiety sensitivity (AS), and anxiety symptom severity (HARS) in order to elucidate the process of anxiety symptom development in older adults. Community-dwelling, older adults completed assessments of SLEs, PSS, AS, and HARS up to three times over 6-month intervals. Using cross-lagged panel analysis we examined whether there was a reciprocal relationship between AS and SLEs or between AS and PSS. We also examined whether AS mediated the longitudinal relationship between SLEs and HARS or between PSS and HARS; and whether SLEs or PSS score mediated the relationship between AS and HARS. Using linear regression analysis we examined whether number and/or type of SLEs experienced predicted later AS and HARS scores. Results suggest that reciprocal relationships were not present. PSS was the only significant mediator (between AS and HARS). Finally, experiencing a higher number of SLEs predicted higher AS and HARS scores one year later. Experiencing minor events (e.g., financial difficulties) predicted HARS and AS scores one year later, but experiencing major events (e.g. death of a close friend) did not. Our results suggest that AS may act as a stress amplification factor, which may increase older adults' risk for developing anxiety symptoms after experiencing stressful life events.