Group Schema-Based Education on Anxiety Sensitivity in Married Women

Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent. Anxiety sensitivity, recognized as fear from anxiety symptoms, such as increased heart rate, sweating, and dizziness is a risk factor for anxiety disorders. Patients with anxiety disorders obtain higher scores in anxiety sensitivity, compared to the healthy population. Anxiety sensitivity is defined as the fear of emotions associated with anxiety symptoms and signifies that these symptoms have potential biopsychosocial consequences. A person with high anxiety sensitivity is considered not only stressful, but also relatively catastrophic in ordinary events; however, a healthy individuals with low anxiety sensitivity regards these events as uncomfortable but not catastrophizing. Cognitive theories suggest that individuals with high anxiety sensitivity are biased toward information processing which plays an essential role in the development and persistence of anxiety. Researches have indicated that high anxiety sensitivity levels are predictors of the onset of other mental conditions, such as major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder. In addition, anxiety sensitivity has a multidimensional nature, consisting of the fear of physical symptoms, fear of cognitive dyscontrol, and fear of publically observable symptoms. The anxiety sensitivity model indicates that the fear of physical concerns is predictive of panic disorder; the fear of publically observable symptoms is predictive of social anxiety disorder, and the fear of cognitive dyscontrol is predictive of generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Furthermore, the schema is an old construction in cognitive sciences. Jeffrey E. Young created a valuable therapeutic model by integrating cognitive behavior, Gestalt, attachment, object relationships, and psychoanalysis approaches. This therapeutic technique could help to change the early maladaptive schemas. Thus, the present research aimed to study the effects of group schema–based education on anxiety sensitivity in married women.

This was a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest and a control group design. The statistical society was family counseling centers’ clients in the fifth district of Tehran City, Iran. The sample size was estimated using G*power software. Accordingly, 30 married women were selected through convenience sampling technique as per the study inclusion criteria. They were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. For evaluating anxiety sensitivity, the study groups completed The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) by Taylor and Cox (1998) with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.86. The experimental group received 13 educational sessions based on schema therapy; however, the control group remained on the waiting list and received the educational sessions after the survey completion. Besides, after the training and one month later, all of the study participants re–completed the ASI. The obtained data were analyzed through repeated–measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post–hoc test.

The mean±SD scores of anxiety sensitivity at pretest and posttest in experimental group were 4.6±0.7 and 3.3±0.8, respectively; in the same values for the control group were 4.1±1.4 and 4.3±1.5, respectively. with the data obtained from the repeated–measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post–hoc test suggested the significant improvement of anxiety sensitivity in the experimental group, compared control group (p<0.001). One month later, the mean±SD scores of the study variable were 3.2±0.6 and 4.01±0.8 in the test and control groups, respectively; it highlighted the persistence of study outcomes (p<0.001).

The current research results revealed that the anxiety sensitivity level declined after providing the schema–based education. Moreover, the effect of education persisted until the one–month follow–up phase. Thus, we recommend the application of this educational method to improve mental health in the general population.