title: An Internet-based investigation of the catastrophic misinterpretation model of panic disorder.
abstract: The catastrophic misinterpretation (CM) model of panic disorder proposes that spontaneous panic attacks are the result of interpretation of harmless autonomic arousal as precursors to physical (e.g., heart attack) or psychological (e.g., insanity) emergency. Mixed research findings to date have provided equivocal support. The body sensations interpretation questionnaire-modified was administered via Internet to investigate core assumptions of the model among 30 people with panic disorder (PD), 28 with social anxiety disorder (SAD), and 30 non-anxious controls. The PD group gave more harm-related interpretations of ambiguous internal stimuli than both other groups, and this tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli catastrophically was not also apparent for external/general events. Furthermore, people with PD rated harm and anxiety outcomes as more catastrophic than non-anxious controls. Results substantially support the CM model although a modification is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Monash University, East Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia. david.austin@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Litza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kiropoulos
mesh_terms: D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010469:Perceptual Distortion / Q000502:physiology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires