Panic attacks in the nonclinical population: an empirical approach to case identification

Although self-reports of panic attacks are common among student populations, it is not clear that their panic experiences are actually comparable to those of patients with clinical anxiety disorders. An empirical approach was taken to this problem by using a cluster analysis procedure to identify subjects within two samples of university students who reported panic attack symptom profiles that resembled those of patients with panic disorder. Such empirically defined "clinical" panic attacks were reported by 7.0% and 8.1% of the two samples. This predominantly female group accounted for most of the increased psychopathology that has been reported in previous studies of nonclinical panic.