RESEARCH ON PANIC DISORDER AND AGORAPHOBIA IN DAILY-LIFE - A REVIEW OF CURRENT STUDIES

In recent years, an increasing number of studies about panic disorder and agorphobia have been conducted in the natural environment. Event sampling, time sampling, and continuous ambulatory monitoring techniques have been used to describe psychophysiological, cognitive, and behavioral responses associated with panic and agoraphobia. Daily life studies highlight the variability in responses associated with panic and agoraphobia, and thus provide clear phenomenological descriptions of daily life experiences with high levels of individual, situational, and temporal detail. The present overview may help researchers to select a technique that is optimally suited to address specific questions about daily fife experiences. Diagnostic and therapeutic implications of assessments in the natural environment are discussed.