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.