The fear of fear present in agoraphobics can be broken down into a fear of the body sensations associated with the panic attacks that plague agoraphobics and maladaptive thoughts about the possible consequences of panic. In a retrospective examination of clinical files, 32 agoraphobic patients were compared to 36 patients with simple social phobias. Fear of fear was more often reported by the therapist for agoraphobics than for the other phobics. Two self-reporting measures were developed. The Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire measures 14 maladaptive cognitions and the Body Sensations Questionnaire measures 17 sensations experienced during panic or high anxiety. These questionnaires were tested in 78 agoraphobics with panic attacks and 197 patients with other disorders including social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and dysthmic and major depressive disorder. Additional data came from 23 normal subjects. Agoraphobics scored significantly higher on the Body Sensations Questionnaire and Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire than did other subjects. Fear of fear may be related to treatment outcome for agoraphobic patients and imaginal exposure may be important in addressing fear of fear. (ABL)