Shorter communication‘Minor GAD’: Characteristics of subsyndromal GAD in older adults
Section snippets
Participants
Clinical participants included 51 adults, ages 60–80, who were divided into those with diagnosable DSM-IV GAD (n=30) or Minor GAD (MGAD; n=21). Patients with comorbid disorders (e.g., major depression, social phobia) were excluded to eliminate these syndromes as confounds. MGAD participants were patients who endorsed some but not all DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for GAD. Control participants included 19 older adults (≥60 yr), who were free from psychiatric problems. Demographic data are presented
Clinician-rated symptoms of individuals with minor GAD
Data obtained through ADIS-IV interviews were used to examine symptom patterns among individuals with MGAD. Two post-doctoral fellows in psychology independently reviewed the written ADIS-IV protocols and coded whether participants met each diagnostic criterion for GAD. Inter-rater agreement was adequate across all diagnostic criteria (percent agreement M=0.80, range r=0.62–1.00). Consensus agreement regarding the presence of each symptom was established using the following criteria: both
Discussion
The goal of this study was to examine symptom characteristics of older adults with subsyndromal GAD. A descriptive review of the data showed that three diagnostic criteria (worry more days than not, difficulty controlling worry, and clinically significant distress/impairment) were endorsed by relatively few (<20%) of the MGAD participants. Therefore, these criteria may be the most useful in distinguishing GAD from subsyndromal GAD. In addition, participants with GAD, subsyndromal GAD, and NC
Acknowledgements
This project was sponsored in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH53932) to the fourth author. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dr. Andrew Shack for his help in coding the data.
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