Relationship of cognitions to fear of somatic symptoms: A test of the cognitive theory of panic

The relationship between fear of physical anxiety symptoms and cognitive mi sinterpretation of those symptoms, as measured by responses to the Body Sen sations Questionnaire and the Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire, respect ively, was examined for two samples of outpatients with panic disorder Fact or analytic and correlational analyses demonstrated that the patients' self -rated fear of specific physical and psychological symptoms was related to the frequency of specific logically related catastrophic thoughts (e.g., fe ars of heart palpitations of chest pressure with thoughts of a heart attack ). This specific relationship between the somatic sensations and the catast rophic thoughts experienced by agoraphobic individuals provides further sup port for the cognitive theory of panic disorder When the responses to the t wo questionnaires were factor-analyzed together, four factors were identifi ed: symptoms and thoughts relevant to cardiovascular, neurological, gastroi ntestinal, and behavioral control systems, respectively. These findings sug gest that the nature of panic-related fears varies across patients, and tha t the use of specific treatment interventions designed to modify, the speci fic variations in their expression may be advisable. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, I nc.