Abstract :
The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Peterson & Reiss, 1992) is one of the most widely used
measures of the fear of anxiety-related sensations. Important gender differences also seem to
exist in that women report higher levels of anxiety sensitivity than men. The primary objective
of this study was to determine whether an equivalent factorial structure exists for the ASI
among nonclinical adult men and women. In Study 1 (568 women; 251 men), the 2-factor (Fear
of Cardiopulmonary Sensations and Fear of Mental Catastrophe), 10-item version of the ASI
reported by Schmidt and Joiner (2002) provided the best fit to the data for both men and
women. Using this model, Study 2 (503 women, 255 men) examined whether the factorial
structure of the 10-item ASI was invariant for men and women. Noninvariance was found for
one item on the Fear of Mental Catastrophe subscale (Item 15 = “When I am nervous, I worry
that I might be mentally ill”). The implications of this are that this item should be dropped if an
equivalent factor structure is to be assumed between men and women
