What connections exist between panic symptoms, shyness, type i hypersensitivity, anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity?

Abstract

Panic attacks have recently been connected to behavioral inhibition, or extreme shyness. Rather than a direct correlation between shyness and panic attacks, three indirect pathways were found in this structural modeling study. A structural model was derived empirically from 168 subjects and then subsequently tested on 167 new subjects. The three pathways reflect diverse conceptual positions current in the panic literature: 1) One indirect pathway identified shyness — hay fever — panic; 2) The second indirect pathway was composed of shyness — anxiety — anxiety sensitivity — panic; and 3) The third indirect pathway occurred between shyness — anxiety — panic, omitting anxiety sensitivity. The term “panic” in these pathways refers to panic symptoms.

Key Words:

• Panic
• shyness
• allergies
• anxiety
• anxiety sensitivity