Abstract
This study aimed to further understanding of cognitive behavioral models of panic disorder by determining whether individuals with panic disorder differ from normal controls in the accuracy with which they are able to detect changes in heart rate. Twenty-six subjects with panic disorder and 14 normal controls continuously estimated heart rate changes under two conditions which were designed to increase autonomic arousal and also under a relaxation control condition. Panic-disordered subjects had better cardiac acuity than the controls in the arousal condition, which engendered less feelings of safety and control, but there were no differences between the groups in the other two conditions. Although the panic-disordered subjects scored significantly higher than the controls on a measure of anxiety sensitivity, this variable was not related to cardiac acuity for either group. These results were interpreted as supporting a psychological model of panic disorder which posits increased internal attentional focus as being most likely to occur in situations associated with a perceived pattern of arousal most resembling that occurring during a typical panic attack.
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This research was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council. The assistance of Leigh Smith for statistical advice and Darryl Fitzgerald on technical matters is gratefully acknowledged.
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Richards, J.C., Edgar, L.V. & Gibbon, P. Cardiac acuity in panic disorder. Cogn Ther Res 20, 361–376 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02228039
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02228039