SOCIAL RHYTHM IN ANXIETY DISORDER PATIENTS

The social rhythm metric (SRM) is a self report diary instrument which generates a numerical measure of rhythmicity of daily life behaviors. Depression researchers have proposed that life events cause disruptio n of social rhythmicity and this leads to disturbance in the sense of well-being and to disruption of physiologic rhythmicity known to be re lated to depressive episodes. We hypothesized that low rhythmicity of daily activities might also be characteristic of anxiety disorder pati ents. Subjects: Forty-eight patients who met DSM III-R criteria for an anxiety disorder were recruited and compared with 41 previously monit ored normal controls. Procedures: All patients and controls completed at least two weeks of daily monitoring with the SRM. Anxiety patients underwent structured diagnostic assessment and completed demographic a nd clinical rating scales. SRM was analyzed according to a previously developed algorithm. Results: Anxiety disorder patients report signifi cantly lower regularity of daily activities than normal controls. The low SRM scores were not accounted for by the presence of comorbid affe ctive disorder Conclusions: We identify a new type of abnormality in a nxiety disorder patients which has potential clinical as well as theor etical interest. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.