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Research Article

SPECIFYING CHILD ANXIETY DISORDERS NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN THE DSM-IV

  1. Jonathan S. Comer Ph.D.1,*,
  2. Kaitlin P. Gallo M.A.1,
  3. Priya Korathu-Larson B.A.2,
  4. Donna B. Pincus Ph.D.1,
  5. Timothy A. Brown Ph.D.1

Article first published online: 16 JUL 2012

DOI: 10.1002/da.21981

Issue

Depression and Anxiety

Depression and Anxiety

Volume 29, Issue 12, pages 1004–1013, December 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Comer, J. S., Gallo, K. P., Korathu-Larson, P., Pincus, D. B. and Brown, T. A. (2012), SPECIFYING CHILD ANXIETY DISORDERS NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN THE DSM-IV. Depress. Anxiety, 29: 1004–1013. doi: 10.1002/da.21981

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Psychology, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

  2. 2

    Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California

*Correspondence to: Jonathan S. Comer, Department of Psychology, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, 648 Beacon Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02446. E-mail: jcomer@bu.edu

  1. Conflict of interest: No authors have competing financial interests to declare.

  2. Contract grant sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH); Contract grant number: K23 MH090247.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 3 DEC 2012
  2. Article first published online: 16 JUL 2012
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 21 JUN 2012
  4. Manuscript Revised: 4 JUN 2012
  5. Manuscript Received: 23 APR 2012

Funded by

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH). Grant Number: K23 MH090247

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Keywords:

  • anxiety disorders;
  • children;
  • classification;
  • diagnosis;
  • diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders;
  • DSM-5

Background

Anxiety disorder not otherwise specified (ADNOS) is one of the more common and impairing DSM-IV diagnoses assigned in child practice settings, but it is not clear what percentage of these assignments simply reflect poor diagnostic practices.

Methods

The present study evaluated patterns and correlates of child ADNOS in a large outpatient treatment seeking sample of anxious youth (N = 650), utilizing structured diagnostic interviewing procedures.

Results

Roughly, 15% of youth met diagnostic criteria for ADNOS. Overall, these youth exhibited comparable levels of clinical problems relative to youth with DSM-IV–specified anxiety disorders (AD), and roughly two-thirds of ADNOS cases exhibited symptom presentations closely resembling generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Among ADNOS presentations resembling GAD, those failing to meet the "worries more days than not" or "worries across multiple domains" criteria showed lower internalizing symptoms than GAD youth, but comparable anxious/depressed symptoms, somatic symptoms, social problems, externalizing problems, and total problems as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist.

Conclusions

Childhood ADNOS cases are prevalent and warrant clinical attention. In many cases there are only a couple, if any, clinical differences between these disorders and the ADs they closely resemble. Future work is needed to improve upon the current taxonomy of childhood ADs to specify a larger proportion of affected youth needing care.

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