Longitudinal course of anxiety sensitivity and PTSD symptoms in cognitive-behavioral therapies for PTSD

• We examine changes in anxiety sensitivity (AS) during treatment.
• We examine whether pre-treatment AS predicted PTSD treatment response.
• AS reduces from pre- to post-treatment through different trajectories.
• Decreases in PTSD during treatment were not associated with pretreatment AS.
• Pretreatment AS impacts PTSD total scores and symptoms clusters differentially.

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been conceptualized as trait-like vulnerability and maintenance factor for PTSD. Although recent literature has demonstrated its malleability during treatment, few have examined its influence on and effect from PTSD treatment. Using multilevel regression analyses we examined: (a) changes in AS during treatment and (b) whether pre-treatment AS predicted PTSD treatment response, in sample of female victims of interpersonal trauma receiving one of three treatments (cognitive processing therapy, cognitive processing therapy-cognitive, and written accounts). Participants exhibited reductions in total ASI scores from pre- to post-treatment. Growth curve modeling revealed slightly different trajectories of PTSD symptoms as a function of pre-treatment AS, and overall decreases in PTSD symptoms during treatment were not associated with pretreatment AS. Pretreatment AS dimensions impacted PTSD total scores and symptoms clusters differentially. Clinical and theoretical implications for these results are discussed.