Feldner, M. T., Zvolensky, M. J., Eifert, G. H., & Spira, A. P. (2003). Emotional avoidance: an experimental test of individual differences and response suppression using biological challenge. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41(4), 403-411.
The present study examined the affective consequences of response inhibition during a state of anxiety-related physical stress. Participants high in emotional avoidance compared to those low in emotional avoidance responded with greater levels of anxiety and affective distress but not physiological arousal. Individuals high in emotional avoidance also reported greater levels of anxiety relative to the low emotional avoidance group when suppressing compared to observing bodily sensations. In addition, the AAQ questionnaire, as it relates to emotional avoidance, would differentially relate anxious and fearful responding to challenge-induced bodily sensations.