The relationship between anxiety disorders in adults and recalled childhood teasing

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Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between retrospective accounts of childhood teasing and anxiety disorders as well as the relationship between experiences of teasing and more global psychological well-being. Participants (N = 377) with social anxiety disorder (SAD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PD) were compared on levels of self-reported teasing history using the Teasing Questionnaire-Revised (TQ-R; Storch et al., 2004). Teasing frequency scores were higher for the SAD group compared to both PD and OCD groups. Across all groups, teasing scores were significantly related to increased social anxiety, depression, stress, and greater impairment in functioning. Teasing frequency accounted for unique variance in severity of SAD symptoms even after controlling for concurrent mood, anxiety and stress. These results support and extend previous findings linking childhood teasing to anxiety disorders in adulthood.

Section snippets

Participants

The sample consisted of 377 participants (females = 226; males = 120) who were between the ages of 15 and 73 years (M = 34.5; SD = 11.7) referred to an outpatient anxiety disorders clinic. Of the total sample, 91% described themselves as Caucasian and 36% reported having completed college or university. Demographics for the entire sample and by subsample are provided in Table 1. Individuals referred to the clinic were given the opportunity to participate in the study if they had a principal diagnosis

Analysis of sample characteristics

Cross-tabulations of gender by diagnostic category illustrated statistically significant differences in frequency of females versus males across anxiety disorder subgroups, χ2 (2) = 24.82, p < .001. Specifically, the SAD group had 48% females compared to 73% females in the OCD group and 74% in the PD group. There was no other between group differences based on age or education level.

History of teasing across anxiety disorder categories

A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to compare total score on the TQ-R across participants

Discussion

The goals of the present study were to build upon results reported by McCabe et al. (2003), who found that adults with SAD report having been teased and bullied more frequently than adults with either PD or OCD. We extended this research by examining a larger sample of adults with anxiety disorders, using a more reliable and valid measure of teasing experiences (TQ-R), and exploring more thoroughly the general psychological functioning of adults who recall being teased, above and beyond their

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