title: Impairment and quality of life in individuals with generalized anxiety disorder.
abstract: Once considered to be a disorder associated with minimal impairment, the link between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and impairment across a broad constellation of domains is now well established. However, less is known about how comorbidity affects these relationships or how GAD impacts one's perceived life satisfaction or quality of life. To investigate these questions, data from 52 treatment-seeking individuals with GAD (33 with comorbid Axis I diagnoses) were compared to data from 55 nonanxious controls. Individuals with GAD reported more impairment at work and in their social functioning than they did with home and family responsibilities. They also reported lower quality of life than nonanxious controls, particularly in regard to self-esteem, goals and values, money, work, play, learning, creativity, friends, and relatives. Trait worry was positively correlated with impairment and inversely related to life satisfaction within the clinical sample. Individuals with GAD, with and without comorbid Axis I diagnoses, showed few differences on measures of impairment (differing only on impairment in social functioning). However, individuals with GAD and comorbid disorders perceived their lives as less satisfying than did individuals with GAD without comorbid diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA.
authors.forename: Eric R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Henning
authors.forename: Cynthia L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: Douglas S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Mennin
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fresco
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Heimberg
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012380:Role; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology