Concordance and synchrony in measures of anxiety and panic reconsidered: A hierarchical model of anxiety and panic

Based on the observation of low to moderate correlations among multiple measures of anxiety or panic, Lang (1968, 1978, 1979) and Rachman (1978a, 1978b, 1990) developed the three-systems model that rejects the notion of anxiety or panic as unitary latent constructs. This model is critically reviewed with an emphasis on discussing its implications for intervention, methodology, and theory An alternative conceptualization, the hierarchical model of anxiety and panic, is offered in which anxiety and panic are seen as unitary latent constructs at a higher level of a hierarchical structure that coexist with several separable response systems at a lower level of the hierarchy. The hierarchical model retains many of the strengths of the three-systems model while overcoming many of the limitations of the three-systems model.