A genetic epidemiologic perspective on comorbidity of depression and anxiety.

Current research indicates that there is a strong relationship between the depression and anxiety that first appear during childhood. Both depression and anxiety co-segregate in families, indicating that the familial risk for the two disorders is shared. Epidemiologic and clinical evidence has shown that anxiety often precedes the onset of depression and the two disorders share a common genetic pathway that may be expressed differentially across development. From a preventive health perspective, children with depressed or anxious relatives are at increased risk for developing anxiety or depression. In addition, anxious children are at increased risk for developing depression particularly during adolescence.