Evoking analogue subtypes of panic attacks in a nonclinical population using carbon dioxide-enriched air.
The increasing recognition that panic attacks are heterogeneous phenomena necessitates better and more objective criteria to define and examine what constitutes a panic attack. The central aim of the present study was to classify subtypes of panic attacks (i.e. prototypic, cognitive, and non-fearful) in a nonclinical sample (N = 96) based on the concordance/discordance between subjective and physiological responding to multiple inhalations of 20 and 13% CO2-enriched air. Results show that a substantial proportion of this nonclinical sample (55.2%) responded to the CO2 challenge in a manner consistent with clinical and research definitions of different subtypes of panic attacks. The implications of this dimensional approach for discriminating subtypes of panic in the laboratory are discussed as a means to better understand the phenomenology and nature of panic attacks.
Forsyth
J P
JP
Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York 12222, USA. forsyth@csc.albany.edu
Eifert
G H
GH
Canna
M A
MA
D000328:Adult; D000388:Air; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011897:Random Allocation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D002245:Carbon Dioxide