Thyer, Westhuis & Harrison, (1987) also examined the relationship between panic and irrational beliefs using a sample consisting of 47 members of an agoraphobic self help group, and 73 graduate social work students. Thyer et al.'s results indicated that the agoraphobic group had significantly higher scores on the RBI, and also had a higher frequency of weekly panic attacks than the graduate student sample. Furthermore, within group correlations for the agoraphobic group indicated a significant correlation between the RBI total score and panic frequency. Therefore it would appear that there is some indication of a relationship between panic and irrational beliefs.

 The main purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between panic attacks and irrational beliefs. The previously discussed evidence suggests that irrational beliefs have a significant involvement in panic attacks. Accordingly it is expected that those individuals who experience panic attacks will endorse more irrational beliefs than non-panickers.

A secondary purpose of this study is to examine other aspects of the cognitive theory of panic attacks. One area to be investigated is the relationship between interoceptive awareness and panic. Panickers should be less aware of and more prone to misinterpret internal sensations than non-panickers.

Finally, following the majority of the reviewed literature base, it is expected that panickers will have higher scores on the anger, anxiety, and depression measures than non-panickers.