Issues in diagnosing anxiety disorders

Summary: Short-term stability or test-retest reliability of self-reported personality traits is likely to be biased if the respondent is affected by a depressive or anxiety state. However, in some studies, DSM-oriented self-reported instruments have proved to be reasonably stable in the short term, regardless of co-occurring depressive or anxiety disorders. In the present study, we examined the short-term test-retest reliability of a new self-report questionnaire for personality disorder diagnosis (DIP-Q) on a clinical sample of 30 individuals, having either a depressive, an anxiety, or no axis-I disorder. Test-retest scorings from subjects with depressive disorders were mostly unstable, with a significant change in fulfilled criteria between entry and retest for three out of ten personality disorders: borderline, avoidant and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Scorings from subjects with anxiety disorders were unstable only for cluster C and dependent personality disorder items. In the absence of co-morbid depressive or anxiety disorders, mean dimensional scores of DIP-Q showed no significant differences between entry and retest. Overall, the effect from state on trait scorings was moderate, and it is concluded that test-retest reliability for DIP-Q is acceptable.

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Effects of an Anxiety-Specific Psychometric Factor on Fear Conditioning and Fear Generalization

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000304 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 225 (3) ◽

pp. 200-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christian Baumann ◽

Miriam A. Schiele ◽

Martin J. Herrmann ◽

Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽

Peter Zwanzger ◽

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Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Fear Conditioning ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Principal Component ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Specific Factor ◽

High Anxious ◽

Two Factors ◽

Fear Generalization

Abstract. Conditioning and generalization of fear are assumed to play central roles in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. Here we investigate the influence of a psychometric anxiety-specific factor on these two processes, thus try to identify a potential risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders. To this end, 126 healthy participants were examined with questionnaires assessing symptoms of anxiety and depression and with a fear conditioning and generalization paradigm. A principal component analysis of the questionnaire data identified two factors representing the constructs anxiety and depression. Variations in fear conditioning and fear generalization were solely associated with the anxiety factor characterized by anxiety sensitivity and agoraphobic cognitions; high-anxious individuals exhibited stronger fear responses (arousal) during conditioning and stronger generalization effects for valence and UCS-expectancy ratings. Thus, the revealed psychometric factor “anxiety” was associated with enhanced fear generalization, an assumed risk factor for anxiety disorders. These results ask for replication with a longitudinal design allowing to examine their predictive validity.

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Effects of Psychotherapy on Brain Activation Patterns in Anxiety Disorders

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000240 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 224 (2) ◽

pp. 62-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Thomas Straube

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Neuronal Plasticity ◽

Functional Neuroimaging ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Methodological Issues ◽

Future Directions ◽

Activation Patterns ◽

New Learning ◽

Analytical Strategies ◽

Sample Characteristics

Abstract. Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for most mental disorders, including anxiety disorders. Successful psychotherapy implies new learning experiences and therefore neural alterations. With the increasing availability of functional neuroimaging methods, it has become possible to investigate psychotherapeutically induced neuronal plasticity across the whole brain in controlled studies. However, the detectable effects strongly depend on neuroscientific methods, experimental paradigms, analytical strategies, and sample characteristics. This article summarizes the state of the art, discusses current theoretical and methodological issues, and suggests future directions of the research on the neurobiology of psychotherapy in anxiety disorders.

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