The Effect of Stressful Life Events On Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

Introduction and objectivesGeneralized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common psychiatric disorder which may cause significant distress and disability. This study was done to estimate the effect of stressful life events on GAD in Erbil city.MethodsA cross sectional descriptive study, was done on patients consulted a private psychiatric clinic from March 2012 to March 2014. A convenient sample of 123 patients, 86 females & 37 males, having GAD were taken after giving their informed verbal consent. The diagnoses were done clinically, and then checked according to DSM-5.ResultsMean age of patients was 31.2 years. Female to male ratio was 2.3/1. Mean age at onset was 26.9 years. Mean duration of illness was 4.4 years.History of childhood separation from one or both parents was 15.3%. Regarding the stressful life events in last year prior to onset; in males, the changes in financial status was the most frequent (34%), followed by occupational problems (26%). In females, parenting stress was the most frequent 35%, followed by interpersonal problems (27%). As a whole, parenting stress formed the highest percent (31.1%), followed by changes in financial status (24.6%). Patients who faced two stressful life events formed 37%, while 25.2% of patients faced three, & only 2.4% of patients did not face any stressful life events in the last year prior to onset.ConclusionHistory of childhood separation from one or both parents & stressful life events in the last year prior to onset were an important factors in the development of GAD.

Adverse life events and the onset of anxiety disorders

“…Overall, these results support and extend the findings of previous studies in clinical samples (Finlay-Jones and Brown, 1981;Francis et al, 2012;Taher et al, 2015). Although our study did not include some important events that were measured in other studies (Francis et al, 2012;Taher et al, 2015) because these were not captured by the AUDADIS, the overall result of our study is compatible with previous work. We would like to see the findings of the analyses on anxiety disorder sub-types and on the risk of first and recurrent onset replicated in independent samples.…”

“…Results of previous studies suggest that recent adverse life events are associated with increased risk of anxiety disorder onset (Finlay-Jones and Brown, 1981;Francis et al, 2012;McLaughlin et al, 2010;Taher et al, 2015). Although the results of these studies generally coincide with one another, three of them were based on small, clinical samples and potentially affected by selection bias (Finlay-Jones and Brown, 1981;Francis et al, 2012;Taher et al, 2015).…”

Determinants of anxiety in elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The meta-analysis outcomes indicated several general factors as being salient to symptomatic anxiety in elite athletes, including female gender, younger age and recent experience of adverse life events. These factors are consistent with findings from a recent meta-analysis for competitive anxiety in athletes,14 and trends in the general population 14 78 79. Meta-analysis also indicated the role of two athlete-specific factors, namely current musculoskeletal injury and sporting career dissatisfaction, as being associated with anxiety symptoms.…”

The social, relational and mental health characteristics of justice-involved men in the south-west England

“…With regards to anxiety disorders, a study by Taher, Mahmud and Amin (2015) with 123 patients who attended a psychiatric clinic, found that childhood separation was one of the most important factor in the development of an anxiety disorder. Further, Scholten et al (2013) found that trauma exposure was associated with the recurrence of anxiety disorders in their sample of 2981 individuals who were part of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety and who were assessed again two years after their initial assessment.…”