Neck-focused panic attacks among Cambodian refugees; a logistic and linear regression analysis

J Anxiety Disord. 2006;20(2):119-38. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2005.02.001.

Abstract

Consecutive Cambodian refugees attending a psychiatric clinic were assessed for the presence and severity of current--i.e., at least one episode in the last month--neck-focused panic. Among the whole sample (N=130), in a logistic regression analysis, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; odds ratio=3.70) and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS; odds ratio=2.61) significantly predicted the presence of current neck panic (NP). Among the neck panic patients (N=60), in the linear regression analysis, NP severity was significantly predicted by NP-associated flashbacks (beta=.42), NP-associated catastrophic cognitions (beta=.22), and CAPS score (beta=.28). Further analysis revealed the effect of the CAPS score to be significantly mediated (Sobel test [Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182]) by both NP-associated flashbacks and catastrophic cognitions. In the care of traumatized Cambodian refugees, NP severity, as well as NP-associated flashbacks and catastrophic cognitions, should be specifically assessed and treated.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asian People / psychology*
  • Cambodia / ethnology
  • Cognition
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Cultural Characteristics
  • Fear*
  • Female
  • Homicide / psychology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Recall
  • Middle Aged
  • Neck*
  • Panic Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Panic Disorder / epidemiology
  • Panic Disorder / ethnology
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychometrics
  • Refugees / psychology*
  • Regression Analysis
  • Somatoform Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Somatoform Disorders / epidemiology
  • Somatoform Disorders / ethnology
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / ethnology
  • United States