The expectancy model of anxiety by S. Reiss
This explanatory model attempts to show how fear and anxiety work.
Today we will learn about a model that explains various anxiety disorders: S. Reiss's expectancy model of anxiety.. The key concept of his theory is anxiety sensitivity, i.e., fear of anxious sensations.
But what is the relationship between this anxiety sensitivity and anxiety disorders? What other key concepts does the theory present? Let's know it in detail.
Expectancy model of anxiety of S. Reiss
The expectancy model of anxiety was proposed by S. Reiss (1991), and it is a model of fear, anxiety and panic..
It is based on Pavlovian conditioning and maintains the idea of "no need for association by contiguity of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus" to explain the acquisition of fear. In addition, he gives an important role to expectations, i.e., what is feared.
This is a Pavlovian and cognitive model and, according to Sandín (1996), it is one of those that has had the greatest impact on the current psychopathology of anxiety. In addition, it integrates operant aspects such as negative reinforcement and self-reinforcement.
Components of the model
S. Reiss's expectancy model of anxiety is composed of several elements, as we will see below.
In the first revision of the model, Reiss and McNally introduce the variable anxiety sensitivity (AS). (AS). This is an essential concept in the model, which defines fears of anxiety symptoms or sensations, arising from the belief that these symptoms have negative somatic, social or psychological consequences.
The model assumes anxiety sensitivity to be a unidimensional personality variable and a unidimensional personality variable and distinct from trait anxiety, although they could be considered related concepts.The model assumes anxiety sensitivity as a unidimensional personality variable distinct from trait anxiety, although they could be considered related concepts.
In the latest version of S. Reiss's Expectancy Model of Anxiety, fear of a given stimulus or situation is posited as a function of two components: expectancies and sensitivities (also called "fundamental fears").
Let's get to know these new concepts.
Expectations
These refer to what the subject fears (the feared stimulus or situation). Three types of expectations are differentiated:
1. Expectation of harm/danger.
Expectation about a danger/harm from the external physical environment. (e.g., "we are likely to have an accident with the car").
2. Anxiety expectancy
Expectation about the possibility of experiencing anxiety or stress (e.g., "even though I know that riding in the car is safe, I may have a panic attack during the ride").
3. Expectation of social evaluation
Expectation to react in a way that will lead to negative evaluation by others (e.g., "I won't be able to (e.g. "I will not be able to control my fear of having an accident").
Sensitivities
Let's analyze the other type of component of the model, already mentioned. It is about why the subject is afraid of certain stimuli or situations. As in the previous case, three types of sensitivities can be distinguished:
Sensitivity to harm/danger 2.
Sensitivity to personal physical harm (e.g., "I will be hurt and I will not be able to bear it").
2. Sensitivity to anxiety:
Sensitivity to experiencing anxiety (e.g., "I may have a Heart attack if I experience panic").
Sensitivity to social evaluation
Sensitivity to negative evaluation (e.g., "I feel ashamed when I am wrong about something in front of others").
Anxiety disorders: hypotheses of the model
One of the hypotheses derived from S. Reiss's expectancy model of anxiety, and which has received sufficient empirical evidence, is the hypothesis that anxiety sensitivity is a risk factor for anxiety disorders..
On the other hand, a second hypothesis states that there is an association between having sensitivity to anxiety and the tendency to experience fear.
A third hypothesis proposed that the high presence of sensitivity to anxiety was only characteristic of agoraphobia or panic (this had always been thought), although it has been shown that this is not the case.
High anxiety sensitivity also appears in generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)..
In summary, elevated presence of anxiety sensitivity appears in most anxiety disorders (with the exception of specific phobias, where there is more doubt about it).
Laboratory results
Through the expectancy model of anxiety of S. Reiss, different hypotheses of anxiety sensitivity have also been tested. different laboratory hypotheses have also been testedwhich relate anxiety sensitivity to the response to anxiogenic stimuli.
It is believed that anxiety sensitivity could explain the increased response shown by subjects with panic disorder in laboratory tests, where the subject is exposed to an anxiogenic stimulus.
The most commonly used anxiogenic procedure to determine these results has been hyperventilation.However, other anxiogenic stimuli such as carbon dioxide inhalation, ingestion of high doses of caffeine or cholecystokinin injection have also been used.
It has also been shown that subjects with high anxiety sensitivity show more intense subjective and physiological anxiety responses than subjects with low AS.
How is anxiety sensitivity measured?
From S. Reiss's expectancy model of anxiety, we found a validated instrument to assess the key concept of the theory: anxiety sensitivity.
The most widely used instrument to assess AS is the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). (Anxiety Sensitivity Index, ASI, Peterson and Reiss, 1992), which has good psychometric properties. It is an evaluation instrument consisting of 16 items that are answered according to a Likert-type scale, ranging from "Not at all" (0) to "Very much" (4).
Bibliographical references:
- Sandín, B., Chorot, P. and McNally, R. J. (1996). Validation of the spanish version of the anxiety sensitivity index in a clinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 283-290.
- Fullana, M.A. and Tortella-Feliu, M. (2000). Relationships between anxiety sensitivity and fear of flying in an airplane. Behavioral Psychology, 8(1), 5-25.
- Fullana, M.A., Casas, M. and Farré, J.M. (2001). Anxiety sensitivity in clinical samples: A pilot study. C. Med. Psychosom, 57, 9-17.
(Updated at Apr 13 / 2024)