HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data supplement Submit an eLetter View responses Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Schreier, A. Articles by Lieb, R. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schreier, A. Articles by Lieb, R.

Anxiety disorders in mothers and their children: prospective longitudinal community study

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and University of Warwick, Health Sciences Research Institute, Coventry, UK

Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, PhD

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, and Technical University of Dresden, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany

Michael Höfler, PhD

Technical University of Dresden, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany

Roselind Lieb, PhD

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and University of Basel, Epidemiology and Health Psychology, Basel, Switzerland

Correspondence: Andrea Schreier, PhD, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2, 80804 Munich, Germany. Email: schreier{at}mpipsykl.mpg.de

Declaration of interest

None.

The relationship between DSM–IV anxiety disorders and their clinical characteristics in mothers and anxiety in offspring was examined in 933 mother–child pairs from a longitudinal community study. Offspring of mothers with an anxiety disorder had an elevated risk of developing any anxiety disorder, compared with offspring of mothers with no anxiety disorder. Increased risk of anxiety in the offspring was especially associated with maternal social phobia and generalised anxiety disorder, and with maternal diagnoses of early onset, greater number and more severe impairment. These results suggest that the type of maternal anxiety disorder and its severity of manifestation contribute to mother–offspring aggregation of anxiety.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. Mushtaq and M. Minn-Din Anxiety disorders in mothers and their children The British Journal of Psychiatry, July 1, 2008; 193(1): 79 - 79. [Full Text] [PDF]

eLetters: