What do childhood anxiety disorders predict?

• Published in: Journal of child psychology and psychiatry Vol. 48; no. 12; pp. 1174 - 1183
• Main Authors: Bittner, Antje, Egger, Helen L., Erkanli, Alaattin, Jane Costello, E., Foley, Debra L., Angold, Adrian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2007; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell
• Subjects: Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Factors; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Anxiety, Separation - diagnosis; Anxiety, Separation - epidemiology; Anxiety-Depression; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - epidemiology; Attention Deficit Disorders; Behavior Problems; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child psychology; Childhood; Children; Clinical Diagnosis; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Conduct Disorder - diagnosis; Conduct Disorder - epidemiology; Depression (Psychology); developmental epidemiology; Fear; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalized anxiety disorders; Humans; Hyperactivity; Identification; Longitudinal Studies; longitudinal study; Male; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Miscellaneous; North Carolina - epidemiology; Panic Disorder - diagnosis; Panic Disorder - epidemiology; Phobic Disorders - diagnosis; Phobic Disorders - epidemiology; Prevalence; Prognosis; Psychiatric disorders; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychiatry; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology, Child; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Separation Anxiety; Social phobia; Teenagers; North Carolina; Human; Anxiety disorder; developmental epidemiology; anxiety disorders; longitudinal study; Epidemiology; Preadolescent; School age; Follow up study; Adolescent; Childhood; Development; Psychopathology; Predictive factor; Child; Public health
• ISSN: 0021-9630; 1469-7610
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01812.x

Background:  Few longitudinal studies of child and adolescent psychopathology have examined the links between specific childhood anxiety disorders and adolescent psychiatric disorder. In this paper we test the predictive specificity of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), overanxious disorder (OAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and social phobia. Methods:  Data come from the Great Smoky Mountains Study (GSMS). A representative population sample of children – ages 9, 11, and 13 years at intake – was followed to age 19. Diagnoses of both childhood (before age 13 years) and adolescent psychiatric disorders (age 13 to 19 years) were available from 906 participants. Results:  Childhood SAD predicted adolescent SAD, whereas OAD was associated with later OAD, panic attacks, depression and conduct disorder (CD). GAD was related only to CD. Social phobia in childhood was associated with adolescent OAD, social phobia, and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Conclusions:  Anxiety disorders in childhood are predictors of a range of psychiatric disorders in adolescence. It appears that children meriting a well‐defined diagnosis are missed by the current rules for the diagnosis of GAD. Future studies should examine whether OAD deserves reconsideration as a nosological entity.