Patients are treated in accordance with a manualized protocol (Gloster et al., 2011)

Patients are assessed prior to and after a 12-week waiting period. Patients are treated after this 12-week delay.

The manualized protocol (Gloster et al., 2011) comprise of 12 weekly sessions of CBT focusing on therapist-guided interoceptive and in-situ exposure exercises.

Defensive activation to interoceptive threat (induced via a standardized hyperventilation task) is assessed using the startle eyeblink response (measured via electromyographic activity over the left musculus orbicularis oculi) to an acoustic startle probe.

The Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (PAS) is self-rating assessing panic disorder and agoraphobia severity with five factor analytic derived subscale scores (panic attacks, anticipatory anxiety, agoraphobic avoidance, health concerns, functional impairment) and a total score indicating the global severity. The questionnaire was specifically developed for monitoring changes during psychotherapy or psychopharmacological treatments. Total score range: 0 to 57. Higher scores indicate worse severity of panic symptomatology.

The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) is a structured clinician rating assessing the severity of anxiety symptomatology. Total score rage: 0 to 56. Higher scores indicate worse severity of anxiety symptomatology.

The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) is a self-report measure of fear of anxiety-related body symptoms (i.e., anxiety sensitivity). Total score range: 0 to 64. Higher scores indicate worse anxiety sensitivity.

Mobility inventory (MI) is a self-report measure that assess agoraphobic avoidance. Total score range: 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate worse agoraphobic avoidance.