Comorbidity rates in anxiety and depressive disorders were very high, indicating that it is advisable to assess both disorders routinely regardless of the primary reason for consultation. This is especially important since comorbid patients showed a specific vulnerability pattern, with more childhood trauma, neuroticism, and higher severity and duration of symptoms.

Background: The Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) is a self-report questionnaire that has been developed in primary care to distinguish non-specific general distress from depression, anxiety and somatization. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate its criterion and construct validity.

Although high levels of comorbidity between major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders were found, comparing risk factors associated with pure major depressive disorder and pure anxiety disorders revealed more differences than similarities. Anxiety disorders in later life merit separate study.

These data show behavioral impairments accompanied by aberrant OFC-striatal and dorsal prefrontal activity in OCD on a reversal learning task that addresses this circuit's function. These findings not only confirm previous reports of dorsal prefrontal dysfunction in OCD but also provide evidence for the involvement of the OFC-striatal loop in the pathophysiology of OCD.

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