Panic and generalized anxiety disorders. Developmental antecedents and precipitants.

Seventeen subjects with panic disorder (PD) and 16 subjects with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) were interviewed to obtain their developmental and psychiatric histories. The groups reported a similar incidence of early separation, separation disorder in childhood, and separation causing exacerbation of symptoms. The groups differed significantly in that those with PD had a higher incidence of a grossly disturbed childhood environmental and major depressive episodes. The results of this preliminary study support the validity of the DSM-III distinction between PD and GAD.