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Fear of loss of vigilance: Development and preliminary validation of a self‐report instrument

We describe the development and initial validation of the Fear of Loss of Vigilance Questionnaire (FLOVQ). Recent investigations indicate that individuals with nocturnal panic (NP) demonstrate increased anxiety and panic in response to meditative relaxation and imagined hypnosis, compared to those with daytime panic (DP) only, suggesting that NP individuals fear situations that involve a loss of vigilance (e.g., relaxation, fatigue and altered states of consciousness). The FLOVQ was designed to assess this construct and was tested in five non‐clinical samples and one clinical sample. The 14‐item instrument demonstrated good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Non‐clinical respondents who experienced NP endorsed greater fear of loss of vigilance than non‐panickers; those who only experienced DP did not differ from the other groups. By contrast, on measures of trait and state anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity, both panic groups scored higher than non‐panickers, suggesting that these latter measures were related to broader factors pertaining to a general tendency to panic versus a specific factor associated with NP. No group differences were found between NPs and DPs in either the non‐clinical or the clinical sample, suggesting that fear of loss of vigilance may be a vulnerability factor for the development of NP and that the FLOVQ has more utility as a research rather than as a clinical instrument. Depression and Anxiety 18:177–186, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.