This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine the coping behaviors of panic disorder and control participants in response to general stressors and an experimental procedure that included simultaneous biological challenge (sodium lactate infusion) and prolonged confinement in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Thirty seven participants with a DSM-IV (APA, 1994) diagnosis of panic disorder and 28 controls without a history of panic attacks completed the revised ways of coping checklist (Vitaliano et al., 1985) and measures of state and trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and locus of control beliefs before and after the experimental procedure. The results were consistent with previous findings in showing a between-group convergence in coping behaviors with less reliance on emotion-focused coping behaviors and greater reliance, especially by panic disorder participants, on problem-focused coping behaviors during the experimental procedure. Gender had no effect on coping behaviors. However, people with external control beliefs (externals) reported more emotion-focused coping and those with internal control beliefs (internals) reported more problem-focused coping during the experimental procedure. Internals with high trait anxiety reported less emotion-focused coping behaviors than their external counterparts during the experimental procedure. Additionally, internals with high trait anxiety, state anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity reported more problem-focused coping behaviors than their external counterparts during the experimental procedure. A similar trend (p < .07) was observed among the internal panic disorder participants. Finally, higher levels of trait anxiety and externality predicted greater reliance on emotion-focused coping behaviors in response to "general stressors" and the experimental procedure, respectively. The results are discussed with reference to the transactional theory of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and other accounts of the relationship between attentional and coping processes (Compas & Boyer, 2001; Clark & Beck, 1997; Derryberry & Tucker, 1990).