Self-focused attention in panic disorder

Abstract

Self-focused attention refers to attention consciously directed toward the self. Although cognitive models of panic posit the importance of attending to internal sensations and the role of this self-focus in the experience and maintenance of panic, limited empirical work has examined self-focus in the anxiety disorders. The current investigation examines two parameters of self-focus in subjects with diagnoses of panic disorder: baseline levels of self-focus when the individual is not experiencing panic, and levels of self-focus when the individual is placed under mild stress. Nineteen subjects with panic disorder and 20 normal controls completed a physiological task of baseline, relaxation, and mild stress. Pulse, skin temperature, and epidermal activity were assessed and cognitions were sampled. Cognitions were coded into content categories of self (physiological and cognitive), task, or other. Results support the existence of heightened levels of self-focused attention in panic subjects with differential types of self-focus during structured and unstructured tasks. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of cognitive models of panic and conceptualizations of self-focus.