Measures depressive symptoms on nine items scoring from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day) per item. Scores were categorized as follows: zero to minimal depressive symptoms (0-4), mild to moderate depressive symptoms (5-10), or severe depressive symptoms (10 or above).

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale measures the severity of worry and anxiety. In healthy controls, the mean score was 4.9 (SD=4.8); a score of 10 or greater on the scale corresponds to a cut-off point for identifying cases of GAD.

Measure of anxiety sensitivity

Fear of bodily sensations

AFSS will assess AF symptoms and how affected the patient is by AF-specific symptoms such as dyspnea, palpitations etc. The AF symptom score ranges from 0-35 with a higher score indicating higher symptom severity.

SCL is a disease specific checklist used to measure AF-related symptoms (e.g., palpitations, dizziness) on two subscales: symptom severity (mild to extreme; 16 items, scores ranging from 0 to 48) and symptom frequency (never to always; 16 items, scores ranging from 0 to 64) over the past four weeks. Higher scores correlate with more frequent and severe symptoms.

To assess stress sensitivity and perception of stress. Each item is rated on a five-point scale and a higher score corresponds to more perceived stress.

WHODAS is a reliable and well validated measure of general health and disability. We use the version consisting of 12-items evaluating six domains: cognition, mobility, self-care, getting along, life activities and life participation. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating increased disability.

Checklist of behaviors related to AF

Demographics

Comorbidities, medication, medical history