Cognitive distortions in panic disorder and major depression:: Specificity for depressed mood

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) and the Automatic Thought Questionnaire (ATQ) are two widely used instruments in research on cognitive distortion in psychopathology. To investigate the specificity of the DAS and the ATQ for major depression and for depressive symptoms in panic disorder, 23 patients with panic disorder were examined with the DAS and the ATQ before and after an 8-week treatment period. Patients from a previous study on cognitive distortion in major depression were used for comparison of pretreatment ratings. The results support the hypothesis of specificity of cognitive distortions of type dysfunctional attitudes in accordance with the DAS and negative spontaneous thoughts in accordance with the ATQ for major depression and a sensitivity of negative spontaneous thoughts to absolute and relative levels of mild depressive symptoms in patients with panic disorder.