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Panic attacks are when individuals are overcome with sudden attacks of panic or fear, with at least four physiological or cognitive symptoms (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). At the heart of panic disorder are the cognitions (beliefs and assumptions) which lead to and maintain panic attacks (Clark, 1986). Most existing research on panic disorder focuses on adult samples. Nevertheless, panic attacks are common in adolescence (Craske & Stein, 2017) with the peak onset for panic disorder being between 15 and 19 years (Von Korff et al., 1985) and panic disorder affects approximately 1% of 11–16-year-olds (Sadler et al., 2018). In order to develop targeted treatment for adolescents, it is important to better understand the cognitions associated with panic symptoms in an adolescent sample. We will ask participants to complete Panic Disorder Severity Scale for Children & Adolescents and the Agoraphobia Cognitions Questionnaire or the ACQ (Chambless, Caputo, Bright, & Gallagher, 1984) at two time points a month apart. There is emerging evidence for a cross-sectional association between panic symptoms and catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations in adolescents aged 13-18 (Plaisted, 2021). This study used an adapted version of the ACQ, with amendments made based on patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) (Waite, 2022). However, to date this has not been studied using a longitudinal design, so a causal relationship cannot be established. It has also not examined differences between adolescents of different ages. Given the cognitive developments within the adolescent developmental period and the increases in panic disorder over adolescence (e.g., Sadler et al., 2018), it is possible that panic-related cognitions show different patterns at different ages. There are also differences in the prevalence of panic disorder in different genders, with females three times more likely to experience panic disorder than males (Sadler et al., 2018). The aim of the current study is to: 1. examine the factor structure of the ACQ-adapted in a UK adolescent community sample (aged 11-18 years), 2. examine whether the ACQ-adapted (total and individual factors) predict panic symptoms at a second time point a month later, and 3. explore and compare scores on the adapted ACQ for older and younger adolescents and for males and females |
