Incidence and risk factors for anxiety disorders in young adults: A population-based prospective cohort study

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders in the general population. Our objective was to describe the cumulative incidence and risk factors of anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in a follow-up of young adults over a five-year period. This is a prospective cohort conducted in two waves. The first took place from 2007 to 2009, in which 1,560 young adults aged between 18 and 24 years were evaluated using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Subjects were invited to participate in the second wave, which wave took place from 2012 to 2014, where 1,244 young adults were evaluated using the MINI-Plus. Our findings showed a cumulative incidence of 10.9% for any anxiety disorder, 6.5% for generalized anxiety disorder, 6.0% for agoraphobia, 2.0% for OCD, 1.6% for panic disorder, 1.1% for social anxiety and 0.7% for PTSD. Being female and having had a depressive episode were risk factors to develop any anxiety disorder. We observed a high cumulative incidence of anxiety disorders in a population-based sample of young adults. Our data highlights the importance of the early identification of these disorders as this could lead to early illness detection, early illness management and a reduced burden of disease.