New developments in panic‐fear research in asthma: Validity and stability of the MMPI panic‐fear scale

An earlier study (Dirks et al. 1977) described the development of a 15‐item Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) panic‐fear scale relating to the reported frequency of panic‐fear symptoms on the Asthma Symptom Checklist (ASC). High MMPI panic‐fear scale scores describe fearful, highly emotional individuals who profess to have their feelings hurt more easily than others, to feel helpless and to give up easily in the face of difficulty. High scoring asthmatic patients were prescribed more intensive steroid regimens at discharge from a residential treatment facility months after psychological testing (Dirks et al. 1977) and required longer periods of hospitalization while in residential treatment (Dirks et al. 1976). These relationships were not attributable to differences in longitudinal pulmonary function measures during hospitalization. Consistent with earlier findings, the MMPI panic‐fear scale was again shown to be significantly related to both ASC panic‐fear scores and to recommended discharge steroid regimens for an enlarged sample of patients. Additionally, MMPI panic‐fear scores were shown to be stable from admission to discharge despite two to four months of intervening medical treatment and to be independent both of age of asthma onset and longitudinal pulmonary function measures during treatment. These results suggest that the MMPI panic‐fear scale measures a personality dimension which should be regarded as a stable character trait, unaffected by severity or duration of asthma or by intervening medical treatment for asthma. As such, MMPI panic‐fear is not merely a product of the medical condition. Instead, it appears to be a consistent component of the patient's personality which influences medical intractability in asthma probably via associated behaviours, symptom reports, and attitudes during medical treatment. These considerations invite further inquiry.