Biomaterial Database

Panic-fear: a personality dimension related to intractability in asthma. 1977

J F Dirks, and N F Jones, and R A Kinsman

A 15-item MMPI scale has been developed that relates to the reported frequency of panic-fear symptoms on the Asthma Symptom Checklist (ASC). High scale scores describe fearful, emotionally labile individuals who profess to be more sensitive than others and unable or disinclined to persist in the face of difficulty. The relationship between the MMPI panic-fear scale and the ASC panic-fear symptoms is highly replicable and related to a crucial aspect of chronicity in asthma. High scoring asthmatic patients were prescribed more intensive discharge steroid regimens upon completion of residential treatment. This relationship was not mediated by available objective pulmonary function measurements used to index medical condition. Development of the MMPI panic-fear scale should enable further investigation of personality and behavioral aspects related to the perceived severity and intractability of other medical conditions and disabilities.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D008950	MMPI	A personality inventory consisting of statements to be asserted or denied by the individual. The patterns of response are characteristic of certain personality attributes.	Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
D010551	Personality	Behavior-response patterns that characterize the individual.	Personalities
D012129	Respiratory Function Tests	Measurement of the various processes involved in the act of respiration: inspiration, expiration, oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, lung volume and compliance, etc.	Lung Function Tests,Pulmonary Function Tests,Function Test, Pulmonary,Function Tests, Pulmonary,Pulmonary Function Test,Test, Pulmonary Function,Tests, Pulmonary Function,Function Test, Lung,Function Test, Respiratory,Function Tests, Lung,Function Tests, Respiratory,Lung Function Test,Respiratory Function Test,Test, Lung Function,Test, Respiratory Function,Tests, Lung Function,Tests, Respiratory Function
D002908	Chronic Disease	Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed). For epidemiological studies chronic disease often includes HEART DISEASES; STROKE; CANCER; and diabetes (DIABETES MELLITUS, TYPE 2).	Chronic Condition,Chronic Illness,Chronically Ill,Chronic Conditions,Chronic Diseases,Chronic Illnesses,Condition, Chronic,Disease, Chronic,Illness, Chronic
D005239	Fear	The affective response to an actual current external danger which subsides with the elimination of the threatening condition.	Threat Cues,Threat Sensitivity,Cue, Threat,Fears,Sensitivity, Threat,Threat Cue,Threat Sensitivities
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000223	Adaptation, Psychological	A state of harmony between internal needs and external demands and the processes used in achieving this condition. (From APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed).	Behavior, Adaptive,Healthy Adaptation,Positive Adaptation,Psychological Recovery,Adaptation, Psychologic,Adjustment,Psychological Adaptation,Adaptation, Healthy,Adaptation, Positive,Adaptive Behavior,Adaptive Behaviors,Healthy Adaptations,Positive Adaptations,Psychologic Adaptation,Psychological Recoveries,Recovery, Psychological