Experiential avoidance, somatosensory amplification, and psychological distress

The study is aimed at testing for mediational and moderational models to explain relationships among experiential avoidance, somatosensory amplification and emotional distress. Experiential Avoidance (EA) is a process involving excessive negative evaluations of unwanted private experiences, unwillingness to experience these private experiences, and deliberate efforts to control them. Somatosensory amplification (SA) refers to the tendency of experiencing somatic sensations as unusually intense, noxious, and disturbing. Although both EA and SA have been consistently related with psychological distress, the specific pattern of interrelationships between the two predictors to affect psychological well-being has not been yet explored. Participants included undergraduate university students and outpatients with chronic pain (males and females, aged 18-65 yrs.). Measures of somatosensory amplification (Somatosensory Amplification Scale, Barsky et al., 1990), experiential avoidance (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, AAQ, Hayes, 2004), and emotional distress were obtained from standardized, self-administered questionnaires. Regression analyses were performed to test for mediational and moderational models. Results show that the effect of EA on emotional distress is not significant when controlling SA scores, whereas the latter predicts emotional outcomes. Findings support EA as a broad-based vulnerability for emotional distress, and suggest that SA may represent a mechanism through which EA takes on psychological significance.