Impact of Specific Phobia on the Risk of Onset of Mental Disorders: A 10-Year Prospective-Longitudinal Community Study of Adolescents and Young Adults

Lieb, Roselind; Miché, Marcel; Gloster, Andrew T.; Beesdo‐Baum, Katja; Meyer, Andrea; Wittchen, Hans‐Ulrich

doi:10.1002/da.22487

Cited by 61 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(77 reference statements)

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“…Our study's high prevalence of current specific phobia (6.5%) is consistent with other epidemiological studies on adults [49][50][51]. Although specific phobias tend to have an onset in childhood and to frequently remit into adulthood, recent epidemiological studies reported them as a highly disabling, frequently co-morbid condition in adults warranting therapeutic attention [49] as well as a precursor or even predictor of other mental disorders and, thus, a potential target of preventionespecially when persisting into late adolescence/early adulthood [51][52][53]. Thus, we had included them into our analyses as a condition likely warranting clinical attention.…”

Section: Tablesupporting

confidence: 87%

Functioning mediates help-seeking for mental problems in the general population

et al. 2018

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Our cross-sectional data indicate a gap in help-seeking for mental problems/disorders. The relationship between number of mental problems/disorders and help-seeking mediated by functional impairment confirm that individuals commonly do not seek help until problems are severe enough to cause problems in occupational and psychosocial functioning, driving the already immense costs of mental disorders. Thus, campaigns promoting early help-seeking, including early diagnostic clarification of and support for subthreshold mental problems in terms of an indicated prevention, should focus on psychosocial functioning, aside from signs of mental illness.

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Section: Tablesupporting

confidence: 87%

Functioning mediates help-seeking for mental problems in the general population

et al. 2018

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“…Interestingly, these retrospective studies showed that in the majority of comorbid cases, the onset of specific phobia precedes the other disorder(s) (Magee et al, 1996; Kessler et al, 1996; 1997). Prospective work has shown that specific phobia is associated with a higher odds of later depressive, anxiety and eating disorders (Goodwin et al, 2002; Bittner et al, 2004; Trumpf et al, 2010; Lieb et al, 2016) but not of later substance-use disorders (Zimmermann et al, 2003). Grant et al (2009) showed that specific phobia at baseline was associated with an increased incidence of other anxiety disorders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cross-national epidemiology of specific phobia in the World Mental Health Surveys

et al. 2017

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Background Although specific phobia is highly prevalent, associated with impairment, and an important risk factor for the development of other mental disorders, cross-national epidemiological data are scarce, especially from low and middle-income countries. This paper presents epidemiological data from 22 low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high-income countries. Method Data came from 25 representative population-based surveys conducted in 22 countries (2001–2011) as part of the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys initiative (N=124,902). The presence of specific phobia as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition was evaluated using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results The cross-national lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of specific phobia were, respectively, 7.4% and 5.5%, being higher in females (9.8% and 7.7%) than in males (4.9% and 3.3%) and higher in high and higher-middle income countries than in low/lower-middle income countries. The median age of onset was young (8 years). Of the 12-month patients, 18.7% reported severe role impairment (13.3%–21.9% across income groups) and 23.1% reported any treatment (9.6%–30.1% across income groups). Lifetime comorbidity was observed in 60.2% of those with lifetime specific phobia, with the onset of specific phobia preceding the other disorder in most cases (72.6%). Interestingly, rates of impairment, treatment-use and comorbidity increased with the number of fear subtypes. Conclusion Specific phobia is common and associated with impairment in a considerable percentage of cases. Importantly, specific phobia often precedes the onset of other mental disorders, making it a possible early-life indicator of psychopathology vulnerability.

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“…This large AF illustrates the remarkable potential impact of OCD on subsequent psychopathology among OCD cases. However, considering the PAFs obtained for other factors, for example, specific phobia (Lieb et al., ), OCD seems to be a less likely target for reducing the incidence of specific disorders in universal prevention strategies but a suitable target for selective prevention strategies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%