anxiety sensitivity dimensions and generalized anxiety‏ ‏severity: the ‎mediating role of experiential avoidance and repetitive‏ ‏negative thinking

objective: generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorders in the general ‎population. several studies suggest that anxiety sensitivity is a vulnerability factor in generalized ‎anxiety severity. however, some other studies suggest that negative repetitive thinking and ‎experiential avoidance as response factors can explain this relationship. therefore, this study ‎aimed to investigate the mediating role of experiential avoidance and negative repetitive thinking ‎in the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and generalized anxiety severity.‎ method: this was a cross-sectional and correlational study. a sample of 475 university students was ‎selected through stratified sampling method. the participants completed anxiety sensitivity ‎inventory-3, acceptance and action questionnaire-ii, perseverative thinking questionnaire, and ‎generalized anxiety disorder 7-item scale. data were analyzed by pearson correlation, multiple ‎regression analysis and path analysis.‎ results: the results revealed a positive relationship between anxiety sensitivity, particularly cognitive ‎anxiety sensitivity, experiential avoidance, repetitive thinking and generalized anxiety severity. in ‎addition, findings showed that repetitive thinking, but not experiential avoidance, fully mediated ‎the relationship between cognitive anxiety sensitivity and generalized anxiety severity. α level ‎was p<0.005.‎ conclusion: consistent with the trans-diagnostic hypothesis, anxiety sensitivity predicts generalized anxiety‏ ‏severity, but its effect is due to the generating repetitive negative thought.‎