Levels of psychological experience in asthma: general and illness-specific concomitants of panic-fear personality.

Coping styles in asthma indexed by a Panic-Fear personality measure are known to influence physicians' medical decisions and long-term treatment outcome. Unusually High or Low Panic-Fear personality styles are maladaptive, the former characterized by anxious, helpless dependency and the latter by an extreme counterphobic independence. In this study (N = 90), the psychological experiences among Panic-Fear personality groups (LOW, Moderate, and High) of asthma patients are described at three levels of assessment: (1) general personality characteristics; (2) attitudes toward asthma and its treatment; and (3) the subjective symptoms reported during breathing difficulties. Comparisons among the groups delineated the linkages between Panic-Fear personality and more illness-specific attitudes, symptoms, and experiences in asthma. Discussion centered upon how general personality and illness-specific characteristics associated with extreme High and Low Panic-Fear personality may contribute to the psychomaintenance of asthma.