E-ISSN : 2733-4538
This article presents data on the clinical and psychosocial characteristics of college students with panic attacks and panic disorder (PD). Compared with subjects (n=13) who met DSM-Ⅳ criteria for PD, infrequent panickers (n=51) reported less severity of panic symptoms, less interference with life due to panic, less visits to a doctor or counselor for an anxiety problem, and less use of avoiding the situation to cope with panic attacks. The infrequent panic group displayed higher anxiety sensitivity (AS) than the nonpanic group but lower AS than the PD group. Both of the panic groups reported stressful life events and anxiety symptoms more than the nonpanic group, whereas they did not differ significantly from each other. These findings were discussed in terms of the factors contributing to the development and maintenance of panic attacks and PD in college students.