Evaluating the invariance of the structure of anxiety sensitivity over five weeks of basic cadet training in a large sample of Air Force cadets

Consensus is beginning to emerge in the literature on the dimensionality of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index [ASI; Behav. Res. Ther. 24 (1986) 1] in the form of a hierarchical model consisting of three group factors and one general factor. One important limitation in the literature on AS is that no studies have tested the invariance of the structure of the ASI over time or across conditions differing in terms of the degree of stressors impacting the participants. We conducted a test of invariance across conditions differing in the degree of stressors impacting participants by administering the ASI on three occasions to a sample of 881 first year undergraduate students from the United States Air Force Academy undergoing Basic Cadet Training. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses produced results that supported the invariance of the consensual hierarchical model of the structure of the ASI. These findings suggest that changes in any of the four scores that can be derived from the ASI (the total score and three ASI subscale scores) associated with changes in levels of stress can be attributed to changes in the degree, rather than changes in meaning, of the corresponding AS factor.