COGNITIVE PROCESSING OF IDIOGRAPHIC EMOTIONAL INFORMATION IN PANIC DISORDER

Panic disorder patients, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and normal control subjects performed a computerized Stroop color-nam ing task in which they named the colors of panic-threat words (e.g. Co llapse), general-threat words (e.g. Infectious), positive words relate d to panic (e.g. Relaxed), and neutral words (e.g. Sleepy). Idiographi c stimulus selection ensured their personal emotional relevance for ea ch subject. In accordance with prediction, panic patients, but not OCD patients, exhibited greater interference for panic-threat words than for positive words related to panic and for neutral words. Panic patie nts did not respond differentially to panic-threat and general-threat words. Complexities concerning attentional bias research in the anxiet y disorders are discussed.