ARE EMOTIONS FRIGHTENING - AN EXTENSION OF THE FEAR OF FEAR CONSTRUCT

Proposed in this paper is an expansion of the concept of fear of fear to include fear of other emotions (anger, depression, and positive emo tions). In Study I, initial evidence of the reliability and validity o f a questionnaire designed to measure this construct, the Affective Co ntrol Scale, is provided. In Study 2, an analogue experiment of suscep tibility to panic disorder was conducted. The ability of fear of anger , depression, and positive emotions to predict fear of laboratory-indu ced bodily sensations in a population with no history of panic attacks was demonstrated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.