[Are eight-year olds already suffering from panic disorder? Investigation of prevalence with focus on panic disorder and agoraphobia].

A representative sample of 826 eight-year-old second-graders in Dresden was examined in a two-stage procedure to ascertain the 6-month prevalence of DSM-IV anxiety disorders. Particular care was taken to assess panic disorder. The eight-year-olds had already been interviewed personally in a screening session and in 230 children an individual diagnostic examination with a structured diagnostic interview was carried out. The total prevalence of anxiety disorder was 9.5%. No case of either panic disorder or agoraphobia was found. For the diagnosis of agoraphobia the DSM-IV diagnostic criterion was lacking in which situations typical to agoraphobia are feared or avoided because escape would be difficult or it would be difficult to reach help. Eight-year-olds do not forge this cognitive link. In agoraphobic situations 2.5% of the children (almost exclusively, girls) suffer from a specific phobia. The prevalence of anxiety disorders is markedly higher among girls than in boys.