Threat appraisal

Interpretation of an event or sensation in terms of its danger, likelihood, consequences and available coping. An appraisal becomes a proposed maintaining process when it predicts continuing fear and changes in it alter the relevant response.

An expectation that a specified adverse outcome will occur under particular conditions. An informative behavioral experiment states the prediction and what observed outcome would count against it.

A difficulty accepting unresolved possibilities, often accompanied by demands for certainty. It can contribute to checking or reassurance seeking, but the function of those responses depends on context and objectively relevant risks.

Interpreting an ambiguous or relatively benign event as evidence of imminent disaster. In cognitive accounts of panic disorder, anxiety-induced bodily sensations can appear to confirm the threatening interpretation, forming a feedback loop.