Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of history of suffocation, state-trait anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity on response to a 35% carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge in panic disorder patients, their healthy first-degree relatives and healthy comparisons. Thirty-two patients with panic disorder, 32 first-degree relatives, and 34 healthy volunteers underwent the 35% CO2 challenge. We assessed baseline anxiety with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI1), and panic symptoms with the Panic Symptom List (PSL III-R). A history of suffocation was associated with greater risk of CO2 reactivity in the combined sample. Patients had more anxiety sensitivity and state and trait anxiety than relatives and healthy comparisons; the difference between relatives and healthy comparisons was not significant. In female patients, trait anxiety predicted CO2-induced panic. Having a CO2-sensitive panic disorder patient as a first-degree relative did not predict CO2-induced panic in a healthy relative. History of suffocation may be an important predictor of CO2-induced panic. Trait anxiety may have a gender-specific relation to CO2 reactivity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 194-197 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Psychiatry Research |
Volume | 179 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2010 |
Keywords
- Anxiety sensitivity
- Carbon dioxide
- First-degree relatives
- Panic disorder
- Suffocation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Biological Psychiatry