Problem

There is a well-evidenced sex-disparity in physical activity (PA), such that females are significantly less active than males. Anxiety sensitivity, the fear of anxiety-related bodily sensations, is a cognitive-affective vulnerability associated with increased negative affect during PA and lower levels of PA. The current study examined anxiety sensitivity as a potential sex-specific, psychological factor related to sex differences in past-week PA behavior in daily cigarette smokers.

Method

Participants (n = 527; 53.3% female) completed an anonymous online survey on emotion and health. Anxiety sensitivity was assessed with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3. Past-week, self-reported PA minutes were measured across four intensities (e.g., walking, moderate, vigorous, and total PA) using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short. Four zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were constructed to test the main and interactive effects of sex and anxiety sensitivity on PA outcomes.

Results

Females reported significantly fewer past-week PA minutes relative to males across all domains. At higher levels of anxiety sensitivity, males reported significantly fewer total PA minutes; whereas, total PA levels in females were not dependent on anxiety sensitivity level. Additionally, females with elevated anxiety sensitivity reported significantly more past-week walking minutes relative to females with low anxiety sensitivity, whereas the opposite pattern was observed in males.

Conclusion

This is the first study to our knowledge to examine sex differences in anxiety sensitivity and PA, at varying PA intensities, among smokers. These data have the potential to inform sex-specific models of anxiety, PA, and smoking.

中文翻译：

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了解体育活动行为中的性别差异：焦虑敏感性的作用

问题

有充分证据表明，体育活动中的性别差异（PA），因此女性的活动能力明显低于男性。焦虑敏感性（担心与焦虑相关的身体感觉）是一种认知情感脆弱性，与PA期间的负面影响增加和PA含量降低相关。当前的研究将焦虑敏感性作为一种潜在的性别特异性心理因素，与日常吸烟者过去一周的PA行为中的性别差异有关。

方法

参加者（n  = 527； 53.3％的女性）完成了一项关于情绪和健康的匿名在线调查。用焦虑敏感性指数-3评估焦虑敏感性。过去一周，使用国际身体活动问卷调查（Short）在四个强度（例如，步行，中度，剧烈和总PA）上测量了自我报告的PA分钟。构建了四个零膨胀的负二项式回归模型，以测试性别和焦虑敏感性对PA结局的主要影响和交互作用。

结果

与所有领域的男性相比，女性报告的过去一周的PA分钟明显减少。在较高的焦虑敏感性水平下，男性报告的总PA分钟显着减少。而女性的总PA水平并不取决于焦虑敏感性水平。此外，焦虑敏感度较高的女性与焦虑敏感度较低的女性相比，上周的步行时间要多得多，而男性则相反。

结论

这是我们所知的第一项研究，旨在研究吸烟者在不同PA强度下焦虑敏感性和PA的性别差异。这些数据有可能为焦虑，PA和吸烟的性别特定模型提供信息。