Suicide took almost 40,000 U.S. lives in 2011, with military rates exceeding the general population (and rising). Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of fear) includes three components: physical, cognitive, and social. Recent studies indicate a connection between AS and suicidality through the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS). Separate research has proposed that the development of severe psychopathology, like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide, may be moderated by AS. The present study considered this mechanism from an IPTS perspective with a cross-sectional sample of veterans and active duty members from a Veterans Affairs clinic database. Regression models tested whether physical AS would moderate the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD; whether PTSD would mediate the relationship between combat exposure and suicidality; and whether social AS would predict suicidality. None of the hypotheses were supported. However, PTSD, combat exposure, and cognitive AS predicted suicidality, supporting other recent results.
","abstract_html":"<p>Suicide took almost 40,000 U.S. lives in 2011, with military rates exceeding the general population (and rising). Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of fear) includes three components: physical, cognitive, and social. Recent studies indicate a connection between AS and suicidality through the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS). Separate research has proposed that the development of severe psychopathology, like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide, may be moderated by AS. The present study considered this mechanism from an IPTS perspective with a cross-sectional sample of veterans and active duty members from a Veterans Affairs clinic database. Regression models tested whether physical AS would moderate the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD; whether PTSD would mediate the relationship between combat exposure and suicidality; and whether social AS would predict suicidality. None of the hypotheses were supported. However, PTSD, combat exposure, and cognitive AS predicted suicidality, supporting other recent results.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Eye, Barry Donovan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ellen Koch, Ph.D., Chair","Karen Saules, Ph.D.","Dean Lauterbach, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-08-28T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-08-28T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z","subjects":["anxiety sensitivity","combat","military","PSTD","suicide","veterans","Clinical Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/540","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ellen Koch, Ph.D., Chair","Karen Saules, Ph.D.","Dean Lauterbach, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Eye, Barry Donovan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-04-04T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["anxiety sensitivity","combat","military","PSTD","suicide","veterans","Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/540"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Suicide took almost 40,000 U.S. lives in 2011, with military rates exceeding the general population (and rising). Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of fear) includes three components: physical, cognitive, and social. Recent studies indicate a connection between AS and suicidality through the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS). Separate research has proposed that the development of severe psychopathology, like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide, may be moderated by AS. The present study considered this mechanism from an IPTS perspective with a cross-sectional sample of veterans and active duty members from a Veterans Affairs clinic database. Regression models tested whether physical AS would moderate the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD; whether PTSD would mediate the relationship between combat exposure and suicidality; and whether social AS would predict suicidality. None of the hypotheses were supported. However, PTSD, combat exposure, and cognitive AS predicted suicidality, supporting other recent results.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Anxiety sensitivity as a moderator for PTSD mediated combat exposure in predicting suicide risk in a military sample"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ellen Koch, Ph.D., Chair","Karen Saules, Ph.D.","Dean Lauterbach, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Eye, Barry Donovan"],"dc:date.available":["2014-04-04T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Suicide took almost 40,000 U.S. lives in 2011, with military rates exceeding the general population (and rising). Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of fear) includes three components: physical, cognitive, and social. Recent studies indicate a connection between AS and suicidality through the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS). Separate research has proposed that the development of severe psychopathology, like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide, may be moderated by AS. The present study considered this mechanism from an IPTS perspective with a cross-sectional sample of veterans and active duty members from a Veterans Affairs clinic database. Regression models tested whether physical AS would moderate the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD; whether PTSD would mediate the relationship between combat exposure and suicidality; and whether social AS would predict suicidality. None of the hypotheses were supported. However, PTSD, combat exposure, and cognitive AS predicted suicidality, supporting other recent results.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/540"],"dc:subject":["anxiety sensitivity","combat","military","PSTD","suicide","veterans","Clinical Psychology"],"dc:title":["Anxiety sensitivity as a moderator for PTSD mediated combat exposure in predicting suicide risk in a military sample"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z"}