Primary appraisals. Almost half of the subjects (45.8%) in the group with psychological distress rated “breathing problems” as a threat compared with 33.3% in the group without psychological distress. Harm appraisal was the second most commonly reported appraisal of this encounter, given by 6 (10.2%) in the group with psychological distress, compared with 10 (30.3%) in the group without psychological distress.