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A New Method for Inducing a Depression-Like Behavior in Rats
Published on: February 22, 2018
Relationships among psychosocial functioning, diagnostic comorbidity, and the recurrence of generalized anxiety
Benjamin F Rodriguez1, Steven E Bruce, Maria E Pagano
1Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University, Life Sciences II Room 222A, Carbondale, IL 62901-6502, USA. benrodii@siu.edu
Abstract:
The present study examined the relationships among impaired psychosocial functioning, comorbidity, and the cumulative probability of future recurrence of anxiety disorders and major depression in recovered patients. Participants were part of the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Program (HARP), a naturalistic, prospective, longitudinal study of anxiety disorders in psychiatric outpatients. Using proportional hazards regressions, worsening psychosocial impairment in general and in specific areas was significantly associated with an increased risk of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depression recurring, even after controlling for diagnostic comorbidity. These results are consistent with and extend similar findings for patients with major depression [Leon, A., Solomon, D. A., Mueller, T. I., Endicott, J., Posternak, M., Judd, L. L., et al. (1999). The range of Impaired Functioning Tool (LIFE-RIFT): a brief measure of functional impairment. Psychological Medicine, 29, 869-878; Leon, A., Solomon, D. A., Mueller, T. I., Endicott, J., Posternak, M., Judd, L. L., et al. (2000). A brief assessment of psychosocial functioning of subjects with bipolar I disorder: The LIFE-RIFT. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 188, 805-812], and suggest that increased psychosocial impairment may be a risk factor for relapse.
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