Temporal relationship between the age of onset of phobic disorders and development of substance dependence in adolescent psychiatric patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the age of onset of phobic disorders in relation to later development of substance dependence in a sample of adolescent psychiatric patients.


METHODS
Clinical sample of 238 adolescents (age 12-17) admitted to psychiatric inpatient hospitalization between April 2001 and July 2003.


METHODS
Psychiatric diagnoses and onset ages obtained from the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school aged children-present and lifetime (K-SADS-PL).


RESULTS
Logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescents with phobic disorders had a 4.9-fold risk for comorbid substance dependence compared to those without phobia. The mean onset age was 11.4 and 14.4 years for phobias and comorbid substance dependence, respectively. Boys (13.7 years) had a statistically significantly lower onset age for substance dependence than girls (15.4 years). Over one-half of the adolescents with phobic disorders had developed substance dependence within three years after the onset of phobia.


CONCLUSIONS
We found that phobias might influence the development of secondary substance dependence within a few years from the onset of phobia already in adolescence.
Ilomäki
Risto
R
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, BOX 5000, 90014 Oulu, Finland. rilomaki@paju.oulu.fi
Hakko
Helinä
H
Timonen
Markku
M
Lappalainen
Jaakko
J
Mäkikyrö
Taru
T
Räsänen
Pirkko
P
D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry) / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors