Panic disorder, agoraphobia, and anxiety-relevant cognitive style

Abstract

We attempted to identify factors differentiating Agoraphobia with Panic Attacks (AG) from Panic Disorder (PD) patients. Twenty-three AG and 27 PD patients were compared. No significant difference in severity of illness was found. As predicted, the groups differed on a measure of anxiety-relevant cognitions developed for this study, the Anxious Thoughts and Tendencies scale (AT&T) (P less than 0.02). We suggest that differences in interpretation of panic attacks account for the development of of phobic avoidance behavior in some but not all PD patients. The intercorrelations among measures suggest that Panic Disorder may be conceptualized as having several independent although related components (panic attacks, general anxiety, phobic anxiety, and cognitive distortions).