THE RISK FOR EARLY-ADULTHOOD ANXIETY AND DEPRESSIVE-DISORDERS IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSIVE-DISORDERS

Background: Various studies find relationships among anxiety and depre ssive disorders of adolescence and adulthood. This study prospectively examines the magnitude of longitudinal associations between adolescen t and adult anxiety or depressive disorders. Methods: An epidemiologic ally selected sample of 776 young people living in upstate New York re ceived DSM-based psychiatric assessments in 1983, 1985, and 1992 using structured interviews. The magnitude of the association between adole scent and adult anxiety or depressive disorders was quantified using o dds ratios generated from logistic regression analyses and from a set of latent Markov analyses. We focus on longitudinal associations among narrowly defined DSM anxiety or depressive disorders. Results: In sim ple logistic models, adolescent anxiety or depressive disorders predic ted an approximate 2- to 3-fold increased risk for adulthood anxiety o r depressive disorders. There was evidence of specificity in the cours e of simple and social phobia but less specificity in the course of ot her disorders. Results from the analyses using latent variables sugges ted that while most adolescent disorders were no longer present in you ng adulthood, most adult disorders were preceded by adolescent disorde rs. Conclusions: An anxiety or depressive disorder during adolescence confers a strong risk for recurrent anxiety or depressive disorders du ring early adulthood. Most anxiety and depressive disorders in young a dults may be preceded by anxiety or depression in adolescence.