ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT FOR PANIC DISORDER THAT INCLUDES FEAR OF SENSATION PRODUCING ACTIVITIES - THE ALBANY PANIC AND PHOBIA QUESTIONNAIRE

A set of items was developed to assess fear of activities which produce physical sensations (e.g., exercise) based on clinical observations that individuals with panic disorder fear such activities in addition to agoraphobic situations. Factor analysis of a 32-item pool based on responses from 438 subjects confirmed three distinct factors which were labelled agoraphobia, social phobia, and interoceptive fears. Evidence was obtained to support the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of all three factors. Importantly, the interoceptive factor demonstrated a slightly different pattern of relationships with other constructs to the agoraphobic factor, even though the two were highly related. The present questionnaire will help to expand current assessments of panic disorder for both clinical work and research. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.