ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the relevance of some contemporary work on classical conditioning, and learning theory more broadly, to understanding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders with an emphasis on one of the more common anxiety disorders: panic disorder (PD). Criticisms of conditioning theories are presented in more detail under Clarifying the Role of Classic Conditioning in PD. Several theories of the development of PD with or without agoraphobia have emerged. Anxiety sensitivity theory posits the existence of a traitlike belief in some individuals, especially including patients with PD. Several treatment studies have shown that extensive exteroceptive and interoceptive exposure therapy may be equally effective as cognitive therapy in reducing PD, in both the short term and long term. Conditioning theory has a long and distinguished tradition in helping to understand the etiology of anxiety disorders, and it was one of the first types of theory applied to the cause of PD.
