Cited by 636Mental Health Treatment and AccessAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesTreatment of Major Depression

Anxious and non-anxious major depressive disorder in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys

Open access
Kessler, R. C., Sampson, N. A., Berglund, P., Gruber, M. J., Al-Hamzawi, A., Andrade, L., Bunting, B., Demyttenaere, K. +25 more·2015·Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences

Abstract

Background.: To examine cross-national patterns and correlates of lifetime and 12-month comorbid DSM-IV anxiety disorders among people with lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD). Method.: Nationally or regionally representative epidemiological interviews were administered to 74 045 adults in 27 surveys across 24 countries in the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. DSM-IV MDD, a wide range of comorbid DSM-IV anxiety disorders, and a number of correlates were assessed with the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Results.: 45.7% of respondents with lifetime MDD (32.0–46.5% inter-quartile range (IQR) across surveys) had one of more lifetime anxiety disorders. A slightly higher proportion of respondents with 12-month MDD had lifetime anxiety disorders (51.7%, 37.8–54.0% IQR) and only slightly lower proportions of respondents with 12-month MDD had 12-month anxiety disorders (41.6%, 29.9–47.2% IQR). Two-thirds (68%) of respondents with lifetime comorbid anxiety disorders and MDD reported an earlier age-of-onset (AOO) of their first anxiety disorder than their MDD, while 13.5% reported an earlier AOO of MDD and the remaining 18.5% reported the same AOO of both disorders. Women and previously married people had consistently elevated rates of lifetime and 12-month MDD as well as comorbid anxiety disorders. Consistently higher proportions of respondents with 12-month anxious than non-anxious MDD reported severe role impairment (64.4 v. 46.0%; χ 2 1 = 187.0, p < 0.001) and suicide ideation (19.5 v. 8.9%; χ 2 1 = 71.6, p < 0.001). Significantly more respondents with 12-month anxious than non-anxious MDD received treatment for their depression in the 12 months before interview, but this difference was more pronounced in high-income countries (68.8 v. 45.4%; χ 2 1 = 108.8, p < 0.001) than low/middle-income countries (30.3 v. 20.6%; χ 2 1 = 11.7, p < 0.001). Conclusions.: Patterns and correlates of comorbid DSM-IV anxiety disorders among people with DSM-IV MDD are similar across WMH countries. The narrow IQR of the proportion of respondents with temporally prior AOO of anxiety disorders than comorbid MDD (69.6–74.7%) is especially noteworthy. However, the fact that these proportions are not higher among respondents with 12-month than lifetime comorbidity means that temporal priority between lifetime anxiety disorders and MDD is not related to MDD persistence among people with anxious MDD. This, in turn, raises complex questions about the relative importance of temporally primary anxiety disorders as risk markers v. causal risk factors for subsequent MDD onset and persistence, including the possibility that anxiety disorders might primarily be risk markers for MDD onset and causal risk factors for MDD persistence.

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.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s2045796015000189

Cites

71 of 71 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

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?

  • Previous studies have reported a higher prevalence of anxiety, stress and depression among women.

    “This is in agreement with previous studies, which also reported a higher prevalence of anxiety, stress and depression among women [39].”

    From The Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety and Stress and Their Associated Factors in College Students. (2020) · cites this paper as [39]

    The Discussion reports higher rates of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder among women, consistent with previous studies; the Results also report higher lifetime MDD rates among women than men. The cited paper does not report a higher prevalence of stress among women, so it supports only part of the three-part claim. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Excessive worry, often as part of an anxiety disorder, is extremely common in individuals with depressive disorders.

    “Excessive worry, often as part of an anxiety disorder, is also extremely common in individuals with depressive disorders”

    From Intolerance of Uncertainty–Focused Treatment for Adolescents With Excessive Worry: A Pilot Feasibility Study (2020) · cites this paper as Kessler, Sampson, Berglund, & Gruber, 2015

    The Abstract Results report that 45.7% of respondents with lifetime major depressive disorder had a lifetime anxiety disorder, supporting the claim that comorbid anxiety is common. The paper does not report how often excessive worry occurs in people with depression, so it does not establish that specific part of the claim (searched: “excessive worry,” “worry”). (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 72 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. First M Spitzer R Gibbon M Williams J 2002 Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Non-patient Edition (SCID-I/NP) Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kessler, R. C., Sampson, N. A., Berglund, P., Gruber, M. J., Al-Hamzawi, A., Andrade, L., Bunting, B., Demyttenaere, K., Florescu, S., de Girolamo, G., Gureje, O., He, Y., Hu, C., Huang, Y., Karam, E., Kovess-Masfety, V., Lee, S., Levinson, D., Medina Mora, M. E., Moskalewicz, J., Nakamura, Y., Navarro-Mateu, F., Browne, M. A. O., Piazza, M., Posada-Villa, J., Slade, T., ten Have, M., Torres, Y., Vilagut, G., Xavier, M., Zarkov, Z., Shahly, V., & Wilcox, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • University of Al-Qadisiyah (IQ)
  • Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
  • University of Ulster (GB)
  • Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven (BE)
  • National School of Public Health, Management and Professional Development (RO)
  • University of Ibadan (NG)
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
  • Shenzhen KangNing Hospital (CN)
  • Peking University (CN)
  • University of Balamand (LB)
  • Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
  • Israel Ministry of Health (IL)
  • Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology (PL)
  • Jichi Medical University (JP)
  • University of Tasmania (AU)
  • Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca (CO)
  • UNSW Sydney (AU)
  • Universidad CES (CO)
  • Municipal Institute for Medical Research (ES)
  • Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT)
  • National Center of Public Health and Analyses (BG)
Corresponding author
Kessler, R. C.
Venue
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences
Published
2015-02-27
Volume
24
Issue
3
Pages
210-226
ISSN
  • 2045-7960 (ISSN-L)
  • 2045-7979
OpenAlex
W1974820251
Cited by
636
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 68 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 100 · 2023: 84 · 2022: 54 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 9
FWCI
47.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Repositori digital de la UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (044708)
  • John W. Alden Trust
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Bundesministerium für Gesundheit
  • National Insurance Institute of Israel (H13-SHOGAI-023, H16-KOKORO-013, H14-TOKUBETSU-026)
  • Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H16-KOKORO-013, H14-TOKUBETSU-026, H13-SHOGAI-023)
  • Ministerstwo Zdrowia
  • National Institutes of Health (5r13mh066849-04, 5r01mh069864-04, 5r01mh070884-05)
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (044708)
  • Pan American Health Organization
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R13-MH-066849, R01‐MH070884, R01MH059575, MH60220, U01MH060220, R01‐MH069864)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (K05DA015799, R01DA016558)
  • Fogarty International Center (R03TW006481)
  • Cilag
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, comorbidities, age of onset, suicidal ideation, role impairment, depression treatment, sex differences, marital status, cross-national comparison, income level, World Mental Health Surveys, DSM-IV, Composite International Diagnostic Interview, lifetime prevalence, 12-month prevalence, women's mental health, social determinants of mental health

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