Citation

Stein MB, Walker JR, Anderson G, Hazen AL, Ross CA, Eldridge G, Forde DR. Am. J. Psychiatry 1996; 153(2): 275-277.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0603, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8561213

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated whether histories of childhood physical or sexual abuse were reported more frequently in a clinical sample of patients with anxiety disorders than in a matched community comparison sample. METHOD: A standardized interview with an extensive series of trauma probes was administered to 125 patients with DSM-IV anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder) and to 125 age- and gender-matched subjects drawn from a random community sample. RESULTS: Childhood physical abuse was higher among both men (15.5%) and women (33.3%) with anxiety disorders than among comparison subjects (8.1%). Childhood sexual abuse was higher among women with anxiety disorders (45.1%) than among comparison women (15.4%) and was higher among women with panic disorder (60.0%) than among women with other anxiety disorders (30.8%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the association between anxiety disorders and reported childhood physical and sexual abuse and extend earlier findings by pointing to a particular association between sexual abuse and panic disorder in women.

Language: en