Your response to question 1 is quite thoughtful - it sounds like there is a lot of work to be done in this area, and I agree that a focus on a physiological model could be impeding thinking about this more broadly. I am wondering if it is possible to benefit from the work done around dementia from a socioecological perspective in this work? It would seem like some of the same factors - such as cognitive reserve based on educational history - would play a role.
Your consideration of how social class may play out in anxiety is well put - both higher and lower class groups have different pressures and buffers that play out differently according to specific context and individual level factors. This of course raises the question of how there may be different interventions - on both structural and individual levels - to address anxiety disorders fueled by these different factors.
For the gender difference - is it not also possible that men express/treat anxiety in different ways based on socially constructed gender norms? I have heard more about this with respect to depression, but I would think this may also be true in anxiety.
For the behavioral factors - tomorrow's lecture will be very relevant! I am interested to hear what you think about the affordances model specifically.