Discomfort intolerance: Development of a construct and measure relevant to panic disorder

The construct of discomfort intolerance (proposed as an individual difference in the ability to tolerate uncomfortable sensations) is introduced and psychometric properties of a measure of this trait are provided. The Discomfort Intolerance Scale (DIS), a self-report measure of discomfort intolerance, was evaluated using a variety of samples (total N approximately 1700), including patients with panic disorder, clinical controls, and nonclinical community members. Factor analyses suggest the DIS contains two factors, including a factor indexing the ability to tolerate discomfort and pain (Factor 1: α = .91), and a factor, which appears to measure avoidance of physical discomfort (Factor 2: α = .72). Cross-time reliability shows good stability across 12 weeks (Factor 1 = .63, Factor 2 = .66). Convergent and discriminant validity coefficients indicated that the DIS performed as expected against established measures of psychopathology. The DIS appears to be a sound measure of a broad individual difference variable tapping the ability to tolerate a variety of uncomfortable sensations and may be relevant to the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders.