Associations of generalized anxiety and social anxiety with perceived difficulties in school in the adolescent general population.

INTRODUCTION: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), marked by excessive worry, and social anxiety disorder (SAD) are among the clinically most important anxiety disorders in the adolescent population. This study aimed to explore the associations between perceived difficulties in school and heightened levels of self-reported noncomorbid and comorbid GAD and SAD symptoms. METHODS: Survey data of 37,905 Finnish upper secondary school students with a mean age of 17.33 years (SD = 0.63) were obtained from the School Health Promotion study, implemented in April and May 2015 in Finland. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine indicators of academic and social difficulties in school. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine multivariate associations between anxiety symptoms and difficulties in the school. The anxiety symptom thresholds were based on the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (≥10 points) for GAD-related symptoms and the Mini-SPIN (≥6 points) for SAD-related symptoms. RESULTS: Self-reported generalized anxiety and social anxiety were both significantly associated with various perceived difficulties in school among this adolescent general population sample. Noncomorbid and comorbid GAD and SAD symptoms were both associated with an increased risk of academic and social difficulties, even when controlling for school performance. Comorbid symptoms were associated with significantly higher rates of social difficulties than noncomorbid symptoms of GAD or SAD. Furthermore, GAD symptoms were associated with a high risk for academic difficulties, irrespective of comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Excessive worry, a defining feature of GAD, is central to school-related impairments among adolescents. The present study highlights the importance of school-based interventions for anxious adolescents. Interventions to improve adolescents'; school functioning should account for the interference of pathological worry related to GAD.

Treatment characteristics and outcome of depression among depressed adolescent outpatients with and without comorbid Axis II disorders.

In the literature, disagreement exists on the impact of Axis II comorbidity on the treatment outcome of depression. The aim of the present study was to examine in a naturalistic treatment setting the 1-year outcome and treatment characteristics of depressed adolescent outpatients with and without comorbid Axis II disorders. The 151 participants were interviewed for Axis I and II diagnoses at baseline and follow-up. Those diagnosed with a personality disorder were significantly more impaired at follow-up than those without. The given treatment did not differ between the two groups in length, intensity, or hospitalization, but the group with Axis II comorbidity received more psychotropic medication. The treatment outcome of depression was poorer for the group with Axis II disorders compared to those without. In conclusion, a personality disorder diagnosis is a sign of more severe overall symptoms. Special attention should be paid to Axis II traits when planning and conducting the treatment of adolescent depression.