Children's cognitive responses to the symptoms of panic

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine children's cognitive interpretations of the physiological symptoms of panic. Children from grades 3, 6, and 9 imagined experiencing the physical symptoms of panic and reported their attributions for these symptoms. Conceptions of common illnesses and panic attacks were assessed. It was hypothesized that girls would make more internal, catastrophic (I/C) attributions to the symptoms of panic than would boys, and that older children would make more I/C attributions relative to younger children. These hypotheses were based on the suggestion that notions of external causality characterize the cognitions of younger children (Nelles & Barlow, 1988), and that girls tend to report higher levels of anxiety and fear relative to boys (Ollendick, King, & Frary, 1989; Ollendick, Yule, & Ollier, 1991). It was also suggested that older children would display more mature conceptions of illness than younger children, and that girls would be more advanced in their understanding of illness than would boys. No differences were predicted between children's level of understanding common illnesses and panic attacks (Nelles & Barlow, 1988). Finally, the contribution of several individual factors to children's cognitive interpretations was investigated. No significant grade or gender differences were found for tendency to make I/C attributions. While no gender differences were evident, a significant main effect for grade was found for conceptions of illness, and understanding of panic attacks was more advanced relative to common illnesses. Finally, internal attributional style in response to negative outcomes and anxiety sensitivity were significant predictors of tendency to make I/C attributions. The relevance of these findings to understanding children's cognitive interpretations of panic symptomatology are discussed.