Effects of parental anxiety disorders in children at high risk for panic disorder: A controlled study

Background: To examine the association between anxiety disorders in parents and offspring in a sample of children at risk for panic disorder. We hypothesized that individual anxiety disorders will breed true in offspring. Methods: Comparisons were made between offspring of parents with PD + MD (N = 136), PD (N = 27), MD (N = 27), and Controls (N = 103). All subjects were assessed with structured diagnostic interviews. Individual anxiety disorders in the offspring were used as dependent variables in logistic regression models where parental PD status, parental MD, and the same parental anxiety diagnosis were used as independent binary variables. Results: Social phobia and separation anxiety disorder in the offspring were accounted for by the same disorders in the parent, whereas agoraphobia and OCD in the offspring were accounted for by parental panic disorder. Conclusions: These findings suggest that differing risk factors underlie the expression of individual anxiety disorders in children at risk for panic disorder.