TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Assessment of automatic associations with bodily sensations and agoraphobic situations in panic disorder
JO  - Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry
A1  - Woud, Marcella L.
A1  - Becker, Eni S.
A1  - Rinck, Mike
A1  - Harmer, Catherine J.
A1  - Reinecke, Andrea
SP  - 105
EP  - 109
VL  - 52
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: One of the central assumptions of cognitive models of Panic Disorder (PD) is that automatic panic-related associations are a core feature of PD. However, empirical findings are mixed and inconsistent, rendering it difficult to evaluate the role of panic-related associations adequately, particularly in relation to the relevant theories. The present study aimed to further advance our understanding of automatic associations in PD, and therefore applied a paradigm novel in this context, namely an Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST). <br><br>METHODS: Participants involved treatment seeking, unmedicated panic patients (n = 45) and healthy controls (n = 38). The EAST was applied prior to treatment. It included the following stimuli as targets: panic-related bodily sensations and agoraphobia-related situations, and as attributes: pleasant versus unpleasant, fear-related words. <br><br>RESULTS: Contrary to our expectations, panic patients did not show stronger negative than positive automatic associations for either panic-related symptoms or agoraphobia-related situations, compared to healthy controls. Moreover, EAST effects did not correlate with panic-related self-report measures. LIMITATIONS: Although the present study involved patients who were actively seeking treatment, panic-related associations might not have been activated sufficiently. Hence, a brief activation procedure (e.g., hyperventilation) might have been needed to optimize the assessment condition. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The present findings do not support contemporary theories of panic-related associations. Therefore, follow-up work is needed to disentangle their functional and operational properties more thoroughly.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0005-7916
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2016.04.001
ID  - ref1
ER  -