The relationship between cognitions and panic attack intensity.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between panic attack intensity, catastrophic belief and cognitions.

METHOD: Data from 540 panic diaries were collected from 42 patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia.

RESULTS

When we controlled for individual variation, effects of treatment and number of symptoms, catastrophic belief contributed significantly to more intense panic attacks (r2 change = 0.10, P<0.0001). There were no significant differences in panic attack intensity between primary and secondary cognitions.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicate that catastrophic belief is a reliable predictor of panic attack intensity.