title: [Predictive factors of anxiety disorders].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anxiety disorders are among the most frequent mental disorders in Europe (12-month prevalence 14%) and impose a high socioeconomic burden. The pathogenesis of anxiety disorders is complex with an interaction of biological, environmental and psychosocial factors contributing to the overall disease risk (diathesis-stress model).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this article, risk factors for anxiety disorders will be presented on several levels, e.g. genetic factors, environmental factors, gene-environment interactions, epigenetic mechanisms, neuronal networks ("brain fear circuit"), psychophysiological factors (e.g. startle response and CO2 sensitivity) and dimensional/subclinical phenotypes of anxiety (e.g. anxiety sensitivity and behavioral inhibition), and critically discussed regarding their potential predictive value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The identification of factors predictive of anxiety disorders will possibly allow for effective preventive measures or early treatment interventions, respectively, and reduce the individual patient's suffering as well as the overall socioeconomic burden of anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie, Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Füchsleinstr. 15, 97080, Würzburg, Deutschland, Domschke_K@ukw.de.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domschke
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome