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Related Concept Videos

Panic Disorder01:27

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and sudden minutes-long episodes of intense fear, known as panic attacks. These attacks may feel like heart attacks and often happen without warning or a specific cause. They can include symptoms such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, chest pain, trembling, sweating, dizziness, and a sense of helplessness. During a panic attack, individuals may feel as though they are experiencing a heart attack or are in a...
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry that persists for at least six months, significantly interfering with daily functioning. Unlike situational anxiety, which arises in response to specific stressors, GAD often occurs without a clear cause. Individuals may experience disproportionate worry about work, health, or relationships. For instance, a person might continuously fear poor health despite normal medical evaluations or...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
08:25

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

A specific attentional bias in panic disorder?

Klara De Cort1, Dirk Hermans, Adriaan Spruyt

  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Neurospyschology, Academic Anxiety Center, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. klaradecort@skynet.be

Depression and Anxiety
|October 13, 2007
PubMed
Summary

This study found no specific attentional bias towards bodily sensations in panic disorder patients. Cognitive theories suggest such biases exist, but this research did not find evidence supporting this in panic disorder.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychopathology

Background:

  • Cognitive theories propose that individuals with panic disorder exhibit an attentional bias towards bodily sensations.
  • Existing evidence for this bias, often measured using the emotional Stroop task, is indirect and its specificity remains unclear.
  • The precise nature and disorder-specificity of attentional biases in anxiety disorders require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the specificity of attentional bias in patients diagnosed with panic disorder (PD).
  • To compare attentional bias patterns in PD patients, those with mixed anxiety disorders, and healthy controls.
  • To determine if panic-related threat words elicit a distinct attentional bias compared to general threat or neutral words.

Main Methods:

  • Employed an emotional Stroop task to assess attentional bias.
  • Recruited three participant groups: patients with panic disorder (n=32), patients with mixed anxiety disorders (n=25), and a healthy control group (n=26).
  • Utilized three word categories: panic threat, general threat, and neutral stimuli.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences in reaction times were observed between the panic disorder group, mixed anxiety disorder group, and the healthy control group.
  • Performance on the emotional Stroop task did not differ across the three word types (panic threat, general threat, neutral) within or between groups.
  • The study failed to find evidence supporting a specific attentional bias in patients with panic disorder.

Conclusions:

  • Despite theoretical assumptions and some indirect evidence, this study did not find a specific attentional bias towards bodily sensations in patients with panic disorder.
  • The findings challenge the notion of a distinct and specific attentional bias in panic disorder as measured by this task.
  • Further research is needed to explore the complexities of attentional biases in anxiety disorders and their potential heterogeneity across different diagnostic groups.