Date of Award
1992
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Psychology
Keywords
Psychology, Clinical.
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Previous research has indicated that there may be an association between alcohol abuse and the occurrence of panic attacks for many individuals. The purpose of the present investigation was to gain a greater understanding of the role of anxiety in alcohol abuse. A comparative analysis of alcoholics who reported experiencing panic attacks versus non-panic alcoholics was conducted. Of primary interest in our investigation was the study of the attentional processes. Comparisons between groups of alcoholics were made on a modified Stroop word task which was designed to evaluate an individual's attention to selected stimulus words. Findings showed that alcoholics who met the criteria for DSM-III-R Panic Disorder scored higher on measures associated with alcohol abuse (Michigan Alcohol Screening Test) and generally had higher Stroop interference scores for alcohol and social threat words, than non-panic alcoholics. It is suggested that these higher interference scores are an indication that Panic Disorder alcoholics selectively process environmental stimuli associated with alcohol and self-esteem (i.e. social threat) to a greater extent than non-panic alcoholics.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1992 .M258. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 31-04, page: 1937. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1992.
Recommended Citation
Malan, Jeffrey Rae, "Selective attention biases: Alcoholics experiencing panic attacks versus non-panic alcoholics." (1992). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3409.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/3409