Adverse life events and the onset of anxiety disorders
Open accessAbstract
This study tested the hypothesis that adverse events are associated with increased risk of onset of anxiety disorders. Data from Waves 1 (N = 43,093; 2001-2002) and 2 (N = 34,653; 2004-2005) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were used to assess whether adverse events at baseline are associated with increased risk of anxiety disorder onset over three years of follow up. Sixty-six percent (SE: 1.0) of respondents with an anxiety disorder in the intervening period between Waves 1 and 2 had experienced an adverse life event in the year prior to the Wave 1 interview. In logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and psychiatric characteristics, adverse life events at baseline were associated with anxiety disorder onset within the three-year follow up period. The pattern of association between adverse events and anxiety disorder onset was similar across sub-types, and injury, illness or death of family or close friends consistently had the strongest association with anxiety disorder onset. These findings suggest that adverse life events play a role in the onset of anxiety disorders.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Genetic factors, the personality of the individual, and stressful life events could cause anxiety.
“In terms of the causes of anxiety both genetic (Meier et al., 2019), the personality of the individual (Prince et al., 2021) as well as stressful life events could cause anxiety (Miloyan et al., 2018).”
From A Systematic Review of “Helicopter Parenting” and Its Relationship With Anxiety and Depression (2022) · cites this paper as Miloyan et al., 2018
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Progress on a cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion
Lazarus, R. S. (1991) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.46.8.819 · Cited by 3,272 · see citing works
The self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders: focus on heroin and cocaine dependence
(1985) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.142.11.1259 · Cited by 2,538 · see citing works
Causal Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and the Onset of Major Depression
Kendler, K. S., Karkowski, L. M., & Prescott, C. A. (1999) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.156.6.837 · Cited by 2,486 · see citing works
THE EFFECTS OF STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS ON DEPRESSION
Kessler, R. C. (1997) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.191 · Cited by 2,111 · cited 4× · see citing works
“(Kessler, 1997) and more recently substance use disorders (Keyes et al.”
InfluentialMoffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., Kokaua, J., Milne, B. J., Polanczyk, G., & Poulton, R. (2010) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291709991036 · Cited by 938 · see citing works
Dohrenwend, B. P. (2006) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.477 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Ruan, W. J., Goldstein, R. B., Chou, S. P., Smith, S. M., Saha, T. D., Pickering, R. P., Dawson, D. A., Huang, B., Stinson, F. S., & Grant, B. F. (2008) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2007.06.001 · Cited by 557 · see citing works
Beesdo, K., Pine, D. S., Lieb, R., & Wittchen, H.-U. (2010) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.177 · Cited by 494 · see citing works
Ruscio, A. M., Gentes, E. L., Jones, J. D., Hallion, L. S., Coleman, E. S., & Swendsen, J. (2015) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000025 · Cited by 228 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For example, there may be dispositional traits (e.g., rumination, worry) that predispose individuals to respond more poorly to adverse events and develop mental disorders (Ruscio et al., 2015).”
Anxiety: an evolutionary approach
Bateson, M., Brilot, B., & Nettle, D. (2011) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674371105601202 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Self-citationThe future is here: A review of foresight systems in anxiety and depression
Miloyan, B., Pachana, N. A., & Suddendorf, T. (2014) · Cognition and Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2013.863179 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 17
- Boden JM, Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ, 2014 Associations between exposure to stressful life events and alcohol use disorder in a longitudinal birth cohort studied to age 30. Drug Alcohol Depend. 142, 154– 160. 25001278
- Eaton WW, Alexandre P, Kessler RC, Martins SS, Mortensen PB, Rebok GW, Storr CL, Roth K, 2012 The population dynamics of mental disorders In: Eaton WW (Ed.), Public Mental Health. Oxford University Press, New York.
- Finlay-Jones R, Brown GW, 1981 Types of stressful life event and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders. Psychol. Med. 11, 803– 815. 7323236
- Francis JL, Moitra E, Dyck I, Keller MB, 2012 The impact of stressful life events on relapse of generalized anxiety disorder. Depress. Anxiety 29, 386– 391. 22431499 PMC3667630
- Gilman SE, Trinh N-H, Smoller JW, Fava M, Murphy JM, Breslau J, 2013 Psychosocial stressors and the prognosis of major depression: a test of Axis IV. Psychol. Med. 43, 303– 316. 10.1017/S0033291712001080. 22640506 PMC3721739 · DOI
- Grant BF, Dawson DA, Stinson FS, Chou PS, Kay W, Pickering R, 2003b The Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-IV (AUDADIS-IV): reliability of alcohol consumption, tobacco use, family history of depression and psychiatric diagnostic modules in a general population sample. Drug Alcohol Depend. 71, 7– 16. 12821201
- Holmes TH, Rahe RH, 1967 The social readjustment rating scale. J. Psychosom. Res. 11, 213– 218. 6059863
- Keyes KM, Hatzenbuehler ML, Hasin DS, 2011 Stressful life experiences, alcohol consumption, and alcohol use disorders: the epidemiologic evidence for four main types of stressors. Psychopharmacology 218, 1– 17. 10.1007/s00213-011-2236-1. 21373787 PMC3755727 · DOI
- Lloyd DA, Turner RJ, 2008 Cumulative lifetime adversities and alcohol dependence in adolescence and young adulthood. Drug Alcohol Depend. 93, 217– 226. 17980975 PMC2254520
- Marks I fM., Nesse, R.M., 1994 Fear and fitness: an evolutionary analysis of anxiety disorders. Ethol. Sociobiol. 15, 247– 261. 10.1016/0162-3095(94)90002-7. · DOI
- Mathews A, Mackintosh B, Fulcher EP, 1997 Cognitive biases in anxiety and attention to threat. Trends Cogn. Sci. 1, 340– 345. 10.1016/S1364-6613(97)01092-9. 21223944 · DOI
- McLaughlin KA, Conron KJ, Koenen KC, Gilman SE, 2010 Childhood adversity, adult stressful life events, and risk of past-year psychiatric disorder: a test of the stress sensitization hypothesis in a population-based sample of adults. Psychol. Med. 40, 1647– 1658. 20018126 PMC2891275
- Paykel ES, Cooper Z, 1992 Life events and social stress In: Paykel ES. (Ed.), Handbook of Affective Disorders. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.
- Slopen N, Williams DR, Fitzmaurice GM, Gilman SE, 2011 Sex, stressful life events, and adult onset depression and alcohol dependence: are men and women equally vulnerable? Soc. Sci. Med 73, 615– 622. 21782304
- Storr CL, Azur M, Bass JK, Wilcox H, Eaton WW, 2012 Adapting to acute crisis In: Public Mental Health. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 303– 347.
- Taher D, Mahmud N, Amin R, 2015 The effect of stressful life events on generalized anxiety disorder. Eur. Psychiatry 30, 543 10.1016/S0924-9338(15)30427-2. (Abstracts of the 23rd European Congress of Psychiatry). · DOI
- Takayanagi Y, Spira AP, Roth KB, Gallo JJ, Eaton WW, Mojtabai R, 2014 Accuracy of reports of lifetime mental and physical disorders: results from the baltimore epidemiological catchment area study. JAMA Psychiatry 71, 273– 280. 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.3579. 24402003 PMC4135054 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A Systematic Review of “Helicopter Parenting” and Its Relationship With Anxiety and Depression
Vigdal, J. S., & Brønnick, K. K. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.872981 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Huberty, J. L., Espel-Huynh, H. M., Neher, T. L., & Puzia, M. E. (2022) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/38903 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Anxiety and Fear-Related Disorders: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Rosellini, A. J., & Brown, T. A. (2024) · Tasman’s Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-51366-5_74 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Miloyan, B., Joseph Bienvenu, O., Brilot, B., & Eaton, W. W.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Plymouth (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Miloyan, Beyon
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 259
- Pages
- 488-492
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7831231
- OpenAlex
- W2767408181
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- PEARL (University of Plymouth) (submittedVersion)
- PEARL (University of Plymouth) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- FedUni ResearchOnline (Federation University Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (T32AG000247)
- NIA (R01AG052445)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- life events, anxiety disorders, risk factors, bereavement, family bereavement, injuries, illness, NESARC, longitudinal cohort
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, United States, Comorbidity, Alcohol-Related Disorders, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
