Predictors of Anxiety in the Lundby Study: A Prospective Study of a Normal Population during 1947-1972

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to search for specific premorbid background factors of ‘anxiety’ in a normal population, the 1947 Lundby cohort. 2,550 probands were repeatedly examined by psychiatrists during a 25-year period, regardless of medical care. The semi-structured examinations included items referring to the proband’s mental and physical health, personality, behaviour and socio-economic background. In the present study, only assessments made before the first onset of anxiety were considered. Very strict criteria of ‘healthiness’ and anxiety regarding the comparison groups were used. Five out of 50 items considered were significantly predictive. The male features share certain similarities with those observed in earlier predictor studies on anxiety and depressive disorders, while the traits found in women seem to predispose for other mental illnesses as well.

Personality differences in the Munich Personality Test between patients with major depression and panic disorder

“…They found that the two groups did not differ from each other in either state. To date, three prospective studies observed the occurrence of both depression and anxiety neurosis in the subjects who had been examined regarding their personality 10 –14 . All three studies found that the two diagnostic categories did not differ in personality features.…”