IS EARLY SEPARATION ANXIETY A SPECIFIC PRECURSOR OF PANIC DISORDER-AGORAPHOBIA - A COMMUNITY STUDY

The present study aimed to examine memories of early separation anxiet y symptoms in a community sample of women at heightened risk to neurot ic disorder. The chief finding was that subjects with a lifetime histo ry of panic disorder-agoraphobia (PD-Ag) returned statistically higher scores on a retrospective measure of early separation anxiety compare d to subjects with either generalized anxiety or other phobic disorder s, a result which was not accounted for by differences in neuroticism or General Health Questionnaire scores. Although limited by its retros pective design and the problem of co-morbidity in subclassifying the a nxiety disorders, the present study does provide added support for the hypothesis - endorsed by DSM-III-R - that there is a developmental li nk between early separation anxiety and panic disorder,