A Comparison of Emotional Approach Coping (EAC) between Individuals with Anxiety Disorders and Nonanxious Controls

Emotional regulation deficits are described as a core component of anxiety disorders (ADs), yet there remains a paucity of data examining this issue in patients diagnosed with ADs. We hypothesized that help‐seeking individuals with ADs would report lower levels of emotional approach coping (EAC), which includes emotional processing (EP) and emotional expression (EE), than nonanxious controls. Diagnostic interviews and a validated self‐report scale assessing emotional approaches to coping (emotional approach coping scale [EACS]) were administered to 101 nonanxious controls and 92 patients with a primary AD (29 generalized anxiety disorder, 40 social anxiety disorder, and 23 panic disorder). Patients with each AD demonstrated significantly lower EAC, including both EP and EE, than nonanxious controls. Lower EAC was also associated with higher anxiety sensitivity and higher anxiety symptom severity. Overall, gender did not moderate the anxiety–EAC effect, but the results suggested that women utilize EAC to a greater degree than men. Clinical techniques designed to improve emotional coping may be beneficial to individuals with ADs.