IS PANIC DISORDER ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDHOOD SEPARATION ANXIETY DISORDER

This article reviews the more recent literature that addresses the sep aration anxiety hypothesis, i.e., the relationship between childhood s eparation anxiety and adult panic disorder, The three major approaches have consisted of retrospective reports of childhood anxiety obtained from adults with panic disorder, studies of cross-generational famili al aggregation of the two disorders, and the prospective longitudinal study of childhood separation anxiety disorder into adulthood, The evi dence is mixed, but the most relevant study of long-term outcome of ch ildhood separation anxiety is consistent with the hypothesis.