Symptomatology and comorbidity of generalized anxiety disorder in childrenand adolescents

This study investigated the symptomatology and comorbidity of generalized a nxiety disorder (GAD) in a clinically referred sample of Italian children a nd adolescents as a function of age and gender. The sample consisted of 58 subjects (19 children and 39 adolescents), 23 males and 35 females screened from consecutively referred children and adolescents. This sample was divi ded into two groups of younger children (19 subjects, eight males and 11 fe males aged 7 to 12 years; mean age, 9.6) and adolescents (39 subjects, 15 m ales and 24 females aged 12 to 18 years; mean age, 14.9). Feelings of tensi on, apprehension, the need for reassurance, irritability, negative self-ima ge, and physical complaints were reported in more than 70% of the subjects. Differences in the symptomatic profile between males and females were not significant. Children and adolescents did not show significant differences in the number of symptoms. The need for reassurance was significantly more frequent in children, and brooding was more frequent in adolescents. Other anxiety disorders were commonly comorbid with GAD. More than half of the pa tients with GAD showed a concurrent depressive disorder; no differences wer e found for comorbidity between children and adolescents, except for higher rates of separation anxiety disorder in children, Copyright (C) 1999 by W. B. Saunders Company.