Vulnerability factors for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.

With the maturation of community studies of adults in the past decade, there has been growing awareness of the importance of the magnitude and impact of anxiety disorders in the general population. The convergence of findings from adult and child epidemiology reveals that the onset of anxiety disorders occurs in childhood, and a substantial proportion of youth with anxiety continues to manifest lifelong problems with anxiety and other mental disorders. In this article, the major risk factors for the development of anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence are reviewed.