NIMH Study Shows 50 Percent of Adults with Anxiety Disorders Had Psychiatric Symptoms in Adolescence

The results of a new National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study show that approximately 50 percent of adults who suffer from diagnosable anxiety disorders showed signs of a psychiatric illness by age 15. Researchers found that to some extent, the nature of the symptoms a subject had developed in childhood predicted the type of anxiety disorder he or she would develop in adulthood.

Researchers took a close look at the mental health histories of 9,632 adults, focusing on the period between ages 11 and 32. 232 of the subjects had been diagnosed with anxiety disorders in adulthood. Of this group, one-third had also shown signs of anxiety disorders during adolescence. The second most common childhood psychiatric illness for adult subjects with anxiety disorders was depression.

Researchers also discovered connections between certain adult and childhood psychiatric disorders. For example, adults with panic disorder did not have psychiatric symptoms in childhood, but adults suffering from other types of anxiety disorders did. Conduct disorders were present in the juvenile histories of adults with posttraumatic stress disorder, but not in the histories of adults with other anxiety disorders. Adults with phobias also had phobias as children, but they did not display signs of other anxiety disorders in childhood. Those who had delusional beliefs and hallucinations in childhood often grew up to develop obsessive-compulsive disorder as adults.

These findings indicate that examining a patient's psychiatric history could aid in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of adult anxiety disorders, say the study's authors. They also point to the importance of early diagnosis and prevention of anxiety disorders.