Stress and skin disease quality of life: the moderating role of anxiety sensitivity social concerns.

BACKGROUND: Stress is an important factor in the onset, exacerbation and reoccurrence of many skin diseases. Little is known about psychological risk factors that affect the association between stress and dermatological conditions. One relevant factor that may modulate this link is anxiety sensitivity (AS) social concerns - the propensity to respond fearfully to anxiety-related sensations (e.g. sweating, flushing) owing to perceived social consequences (e.g. rejection or humiliation).

OBJECTIVES: To gain insight into psychological factors affecting skin disease, we examined the moderating role of AS social concerns in the relationship between stress and skin disease quality of life (QoL).

METHODS: Participants [n = 237 (161 female), mean ± SD age 34·18 ± 9·57 years] with active skin disease symptoms were recruited online and completed questionnaires assessing stress, AS social concerns, skin disease QoL and global skin disease symptom severity.

RESULTS: AS social concerns moderated the association between stress and skin-related emotional and social functioning in adults with skin disease. Stress was a significant predictor of the impairment associated with skin disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Stress was linked to skin disease-related emotional and functional impairment associated with skin disease among individuals with high AS social concerns. These results highlight the potential for AS reduction interventions to break the vicious cycle of stress and skin disease symptoms and to improve psychosocial well-being in dermatology patients.