Risk Factors
As many as 25% of all American adults experience intense anxiety at sometime in their lives. The prevalence of true anxiety disorders is much lower, although they are still the most common psychiatric conditions in the United States and affect more than 20 million Americans.
Gender. With the exception of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and possibly social anxiety, women have twice the risk for most anxiety disorders as men. A number of factors may increase the reported risk in women, including hormonal factors, cultural pressures to meet everyone else's needs except their own, and fewer self-restrictions on reporting anxiety to doctors.
Age. In general, phobias, OCD and separation anxiety show up early in childhood, while social phobia and panic disorder are often diagnosed during the teen years. Studies suggest that 3 - 5% of children and adolescents have some anxiety disorder. Indeed, this may be an underestimation, particularly since symptoms in children may differ from those in adults. One study indicated that if such children could be identified as early as 2 years of age they possibly could be treated to avoid later anxiety disorders.
Personality Factors. Children's personalities may indicate higher or lower risk for future anxiety disorders. For example, research suggests that extremely shy children and those likely to be the target of bullies are at higher risk for developing anxiety disorders later in life. Children who cannot tolerate uncertainty tend to be worriers, a major predictor of generalized anxiety. In fact, such traits may be biologically based and due to a hypersensitive amygdala -- the "fear center" in the brain.
Family History and Dynamics. Anxiety disorders run in families. Genetic factors play a role in some cases, but family dynamics and psychological influences are also often at work. For example, in a 2002 study, toddlers tended to avoid rubber snakes or spiders if their mothers indicated a negative response to these objects by their facial expressions. Girls had a stronger response than did boys. Studies are reporting the anxiety in new mother can affect their infants. One study reported a higher rate of crying and an impaired ability to adapt to new situations in infants of mothers who had been stressed and anxious during pregnancy. In another, infants of mothers with panic disorder had higher levels of stress hormones and more sleep disturbances than other children.
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