SPECIFIC FEARS AND PANIC ATTACKS - A SURVEY OF CLINICAL AND NONCLINICAL SAMPLES

The purpose of this investigation was to examine features of specific fears. The features examined were ones that have been associated traditionally with panic attacks: focus of apprehension, symptom profile, and predictability. By so doing, the value of these features for discriminating between panic disorder with agoraphobia and simple phobias was evaluated. In addition, the study evaluated the extent to which these features were influenced by the specific type of object or situation that is feared, and by the co-occurrence of uncued panic attacks. A survey was administered to 216 college students, and 95 patients seeking treatment at a clinical research facility. Specific fears involved worries about the dangers of panicking, panic-symptoms, and unpredictability, to some extent. For the most part, these features were uneffected by the co-occurrence of panic attacks or panic disorder. However, fears of enclosed places were most similar to panic/agoraphobia in terms of focus of apprehension, symptom profile, and predictability. In addition, enclosed places were more likely to be feared in the presence of uncued panic attacks.