Age of onset anticipation in anxiety disorders

Anticipation, an increase in severity or a decrease in the age of onset inherent in the transmission of a disease gene from an affected parent to a child, is being increasingly described in human diseases. In this study we searched for possible anticipation in anxiety disorders. Seventeen unilineal families who had anxiety disorders were compared across two successive generations as to age at the onset of anxiety disorders. Life table analyses revealed a significant decrease in the onset of anxiety disorders from older to younger generations. No evidence of a difference in the type of anxiety disorder was found. Anticipation was thus found in families with anxiety disorders and, if it is confirmed by other studies, trinucleotide repeat sequences may be considered to account for the familial aggregation of anxiety disorders.