ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT FOR PANIC DISORDER THAT INCLUDES FEAR OF SENSATION PRODUCING ACTIVITIES - THE ALBANY PANIC AND PHOBIA QUESTIONNAIRE

A set of items was developed to assess fear of activities which produc e physical sensations (e.g., exercise) based on clinical observations that individuals with panic disorder fear such activities in addition to agoraphobic situations. Factor analysis of a 32-item pool based on responses from 438 subjects confirmed three distinct factors which wer e labelled agoraphobia, social phobia, and interoceptive fears. Eviden ce was obtained to support the internal consistency, test-retest relia bility, and construct validity of all three factors. Importantly, the interoceptive factor demonstrated a slightly different pattern of rela tionships with other constructs to the agoraphobic factor, even though the two were highly related. The present questionnaire will help to e xpand current assessments of panic disorder for both clinical work and research. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.