Lifetime exit events and recent social and family adversities in anxious and depressed school-age children and adolescents--I.

The number of lifetime exit events occurring over the lives of 7-16-year-old children was compared between cases with new onset episodes of anxiety and depression (n = 100) and community controls (n = 100). The reporting of events by adult responders appears reliable and not subject to distortions of recall. Overall the likelihood of experiencing exit events increases with age. A significant association was found between current disorder and two or more previous lifetime exit events. There is, however, a non-significant trend for those cases who experience multiple lifetime exits to be younger than the controls and to be female rather than male. These findings are uninfluenced by pubertal stage at time of onset of disorder or by diagnosis.