Childhood physical and sexual abuse in patients with anxiety disorders and in a community sample.
OBJECTIVE
The authors investigated whether histories of childhood physical or sexual abuse were reported more frequently in a clinical sample of patients with anxiety disorders than in a matched community comparison sample.


METHODS
A standardized interview with an extensive series of trauma probes was administered to 125 patients with DSM-IV anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder) and to 125 age- and gender-matched subjects drawn from a random community sample.


RESULTS
Childhood physical abuse was higher among both men (15.5%) and women (33.3%) with anxiety disorders than among comparison subjects (8.1%). Childhood sexual abuse was higher among women with anxiety disorders (45.1%) than among comparison women (15.4%) and was higher among women with panic disorder (60.0%) than among women with other anxiety disorders (30.8%).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings confirm the association between anxiety disorders and reported childhood physical and sexual abuse and extend earlier findings by pointing to a particular association between sexual abuse and panic disorder in women.
Stein
M B
MB
Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0603, USA.
Walker
J R
JR
Anderson
G
G
Hazen
A L
AL
Ross
C A
CA
Eldridge
G
G
Forde
D R
DR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors