Cognitive specificity in panic and depression: Implications for comorbidity

Previous studies of cognitive specificity in depression and anxiety disorders have established reliable profiles of depressive cognitions, and to a somewhat lesser extent, panic-related cognitions. The present study examines cognitive specificity in pure diagnostic groups of patients with panic disorder or major depression and compares cognitive profiles in these single diagnosis groups to those observed in a group of individuals with comorbid panic and depression. In addition to Beck's Cognition Checklist, we introduce a cognition inventory that includes subscales for panic and depression along with somatic preoccupation, social fears, and worry Good specificity was found for panic and depression cognitions in the pure diagnostic groups, and the comorbid group was equivalent to the pure groups on these measures. However the comorbid group was also significantly more troubled by less prototypical cognitions concerning social-evaluative fears and somatic preoccupation. These results suggest that individuals with comorbid depression and panic may hold additional maladaptive beliefs beyond specific cognitions typically associated with each disorder alone.