If I Was Neglected Or Abused As A Child, Is It More Likely That I Will Develop An Anxiety Disorder Later In Life?

Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic

April 16, 2008

Question: If I was neglected or abused as a child, is it more likely that I will develop an anxiety disorder later in life?

Answer: People who experience abuse or neglect as children are more likely to develop anxiety and depressive and other psychiatric disorders. But again, it's not necessarily true that you will develop an anxiety disorder. And there are a number of different factors that influence whether or not someone will develop an anxiety disorder if they experience trauma as a child.

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The severity and length of the trauma, or the abuse or neglect, make it more likely that someone will develop an anxiety disorder if it's more severe, or more frequent. The other circumstances of life at the time, what was going on, other stressors, what the support was like before and after the trauma, how the trauma was dealt with, all are factors that would influence how likely it is that someone's going to develop an anxiety disorder.

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