CHILDHOOD PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN PATIENTS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS AND IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE

Objective: The authors investigated whether histories of childhood phy sical or sexual abuse were reported more frequently in a clinical samp le of patients with anxiety disorders than in a matched community comp arison sample. Method: A standardized interview with an extensive seri es of trauma probes was administered to 125 patients with DSM-IV anxie ty disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, or obsessive-compulsive d isorder) and to 125 age- and gender-matched subjects drawn from a rand om community sample. Results: Childhood physical abuse was higher amon g both men (15.5%) and women (33.3%) with anxiety disorders than among comparison subjects (8.1%). Childhood sexual abuse was higher among w omen with anxiety disorders (45.1%) than among comparison women (15.4% ) and was higher among women with panic disorder (60.0%) than among wo men with other anxiety disorders (30.8%). Conclusions: These findings confirm the association between anxiety disorders and reported childho od physical and sexual abuse and extend earlier findings by pointing t o a particular association between sexual abuse and panic disorder in women.