Homotypic versus heterotypic continuity of anxiety symptoms in young adolescents: evidence for distinctions between DSM-IV subtypes.
OBJECTIVE
to investigate homotypic and heterotypic longitudinal patterns of symptoms of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SoPh), panic disorder (PD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in young adolescents from the Dutch general population.


METHODS
2,067 individuals (51.4% girls) from a Dutch community sample, who were assessed for the first time when they were aged 10 to 12 years, were followed up across a period of two years. At both assessments, anxiety symptoms were assessed with the RCADS, a self-report questionnaire.


RESULTS
Regression analyses indicated that homotypic continuity was relatively high for SAD, GAD, and SoPh symptoms, and for PD in girls.


CONCLUSIONS
In many studies, anxiety disorders are treated as one group of disorders, and some widely used assessment instruments, such as the Child Behavior Checklist, do not even contain scales that tap different anxiety dimensions. In the present study, evidence for homotypic continuity was found, especially for symptoms of separation, social, and generalized anxiety, and for symptoms of panic disorder in girls, underscoring the usefulness of making distinctions between different anxiety constructs.
Ferdinand
Robert F
RF
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam/Sophia Children's Hospital, Dr. Molewaterplein 60, 3000 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands. r.f.ferdinand@erasmusmc.nl
Dieleman
Gwen
G
Ormel
Johan
J
Verhulst
Frank C
FC
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires