Monitoring, trait anxiety, and panic disorder symptomatology in normal subjects.

The present study investigated the relationship between a monitoring coping style and panic disorder symptoms in a normal sample (N = 77). The current study found some positive associations between monitoring, on the one hand, and fear of bodily sensations and agoraphobic avoidance, on the other hand. However, the observed correlations between monitoring and panic disorder symptoms were rather small. Moreover, monitoring was not found to be associated with the catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations. As such misinterpretations are thought to play a crucial role in the etiology of panic disorder, the present findings do not support the idea that a monitoring coping style represents a risk factor for panic disorder.