ANTIDEPRESSANT TREATMENT IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS .2. ANXIETY, PHYSICAL, AND BEHAVIORAL-DISORDERS

Part II of this review critically evaluates antidepressants' (AD) effi cacy in children and adolescents with anxiety, physical, and behaviora l disorders as well as AD's side-effect spectrum. AD are administered increasingly to youths with specific anxiety syndromes phenomenologica lly paralleling those in adults which are responsive to AD (e.g., pani c, obsessive-compulsive disorders). While several trials have not subs tantiated earlier theoretical considerations suggesting their usefulne ss in separation anxiety, their recent success in ameliorating obsessi ve-compulsive symptoms is encouraging. Systematic drug treatment studi es however are limited because of the common overlap of anxiety syndro mes with each other and other prominent psychiatric disturbances. More consistent benefits with AD are seen in the physical (e.g., enuresis, bulimia nervosa) and behavioral disorders (e.g., attention deficit-hy peractivity disorder). The wide-ranging benefits of AD in nonaffective disorders suggest AD are more appropriately viewed as broad spectrum pharmacotherapeutics.