Evaluation of perseveration in relation to panic-relevant responding: An initial test

Background: Perseveration reflects the tendency to engage in a behavior even when it is no longer rewarding nor produces the expected consequences. Method: The current study explored whether (1) individuals endorsing a recent (past 2 years) history of nonclinical panic attacks would report greater levels of perseveration compared to individuals without such a history; (2) whether individuals endorsing higher levels of perseveration would evidence greater panic-relevant responding to a 4-minute 10% carbon dioxide-enriched air challenge. Results: Results indicated that individuals with, compared to without, a positive panic attack history endorsed significantly greater levels of perseveration. Additionally, greater pre-challenge levels of perseveration significantly predicted greater panic attack symptom severity as well as self-reported anxiety; these significant effects were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by sex, trait-level negative affectivity, panic attack status, and distress tolerance as well as shared variance with the related constructs of persistence and perfectionism. Discussion: Together, the current findings provide initial, albeit preliminary, support for the utlity of investigating perseveration in relation to models of panic psychopathology specifically, and offer a further empirical context for perseveration- psychopathology relations in general.