The Relations Between Sensory Modulation, Hyper Arousability and Psychopathology in Adolescents with Anxiety Disorders

Background: Sensory modulation may play a significant role in psychiatric conditions, including anxiety, and explain arousability levels, behavioral disorders, and functional deficits. Yet, studies about sensory modulation in adolescents with anxiety disorders are scarce. Purpose: To profile the prevalence of sensory modulation difficulties (SMDs) in adolescents with anxiety and examine their relations to arousability and psychopathology. The study compared adolescents with anxiety disorders to healthy controls using physiological measures and self-reports that reflect daily life scenarios. Then, the study examined the relationship between SMDs, arousability, and psychopathological severity in the study group. Method: Participants were 106 adolescents, aged 10.5–18 years and their parents. The study group included 44 participants diagnosed with anxiety disorder by psychiatrists. The control group included 62 healthy participants matched by age and gender to the study group. Parents completed the demographic questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The adolescents completed The Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) and underwent the electrodermal activity (EDA) and pulse rate tests while listening to extreme sensory stimuli of auditory startles. Results: Based on AASP, the study group had a higher prevalence of SMDs expressed in lower sensory seeking, difficulties in registering sensory stimuli, and higher sensory sensitivity and avoidance. The study group presented higher arousability while listening to the startles as manifested in higher heart rate and EDA responses. The physiological results correlated with SMD levels measured by the AASP self-reports. SMDs correlated with psychopathological severity. Conclusions: SMDs may characterize adolescents with anxiety disorders and impact their arousability, symptoms severity, and daily functioning. Therefore, sensory modulation should be evaluated using both self-reports (to reflect implications in real life from patients’ own voices) along with objective measures to explain daily behaviors by underlying physiological mechanisms. This may focus intervention towards better health, function, and development.