The Differential Role of Anxiety Sensitivity and its Components in the Relation Between Emotional Nonacceptance and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms and Disorders among Latinos in Primary Care

Latinos are the second fastest growing minority group in the United States. Unfortunately, rates of depression and anxiety symptoms among Latinos may be as much as twice the rate of non-Latino White Americans. Due to cultural values such as emotional restraint and perceptions of emotional expression as a sign of weakness, emotional nonacceptance could play a major role in development and maintenance of mood and anxiety problems among the Latino population. Hypothesis. Anxiety sensitivity may explain the associations between emotional nonacceptance and symptoms of anxious arousal, social anxiety, depression and other mood/anxiety disorders. The sub-scales of AS: physical, cognitive and social concerns were expected to be mediators to anxious arousal, depressive symptoms and social anxiety symptoms respectively. AS was found to explain the relations between emotional nonacceptance and all dependent variables: social anxiety, anxious arousal, depressive symptoms, and number of mood/anxiety disorder diagnoses. AS may be an explanatory mechanism in the relation between emotional nonacceptance and a relatively broad array of anxiety and depressive symptoms and clinical disorders. This project was completed with contributions from Monica Garza from Legacy Community Health, Houston.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg