title: Course and outcome of anxiety disorders in adolescents.
abstract: The aim of this article was to examine the course and outcome of anxiety disorders in German adolescents. Anxiety and other psychiatric disorders were coded based on DSM-IV criteria using the computerized Munich version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. About 22.6% of the adolescents who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria of any current anxiety disorders at the index investigation (T1) continued to have anxiety at the follow-up investigation (T2), 17.7% had depression, 27.4% somatoform, 6.5% substance use disorders, and 41.9% had no disorders. The factors that were significantly associated with the persistence of anxiety disorders included older age, presence of somatoform and substance use disorders, as well as a high number of negative life events at the T1-interview. Adolescents with "chronic" compared to "transient" anxiety disorders and those without any disorders were significantly more impaired in various life domains. Despite these high levels of psychosocial impairment, only a few of them did seek professional help in the last 12 months before the T2-interview.
authors.affiliation: Westfalische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Psychologisches Institut 1, Germany. essau@psy.uni-muenster.de
authors.forename: Cecilia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Essau
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Conradt
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Petermann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012307:Risk Factors; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors