AGE AT ONSET OF PANIC DISORDER - INFLUENCE OF FAMILIAL LIABILITY TO THE DISEASE AND OF CHILDHOOD SEPARATION ANXIETY DISORDER

Objective: The authors investigated the relation of age at onset of pa nic disorder to liability to panic disorder and agoraphobia. Method: T wo hundred thirty-one outpatients with panic disorder were compared wi th 131 surgical outpatients on demographic variables and familial risk of psychiatric disorders. The distribution of patients' ages at onset of panic disorder and several covariates were entered in a stepwise s urvival analysis. Results: The patients with panic disorder had a sign ificantly higher rate of childhood separation anxiety disorder and hig her familial risks of panic disorder/panic disorder with agoraphobia a nd alcoholism. A family history of panic disorder with agoraphobia and the presence of childhood separation anxiety disorder influenced age at onset of panic disorder. Conclusions: Age at onset of panic disorde r may reflect genetic penetrance, and separation anxiety disorder may be an individual predictor of earlier onset of panic disorder.