Antecedents to panic disorder in nonreferred adults.
OBJECTIVE
Previous work has shown that childhood anxiety disorders are unique antecedents for panic disorder. The current study examined both childhood and adult comorbid disorders as potential antecedent disorders to panic disorder in a large sample of nonreferred adults.


METHODS
Subjects were 1018 adults with (N = 58) and without (N = 960) panic disorder who were derived from a sample originally ascertained through family studies of probands with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); data were obtained from 1988 to 1996. Classification and regression trees (CART) analysis was used to examine anxiety and nonanxiety disorders antecedent to panic disorder.


RESULTS
CART analysis showed that separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, and simple phobia were unique predictors of subsequent panic disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
These results support and expand previously reported findings in referred samples documenting that comorbid anxiety disorders are unique antecedent risk factors for panic disorder.
Biederman
Joseph
J
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Jbiederman@partners.org
Petty
Carter R
CR
Faraone
Stephen V
SV
Hirshfeld-Becker
Dina R
DR
Henin
Aude
A
Brauer
Lindsay
L
Kaufman
Bonnie
B
Rosenbaum
Jerrold F
JF
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors