Various studies find relationships among anxiety and depressive disorders of adolescence and adulthood. This study prospectively examines the magnitude of longitudinal associations between adolescent and adult anxiety or depressive disorders.

An epidemiologically selected sample of 776 young people living in upstate New York receivedDSM-based psychiatric assessments in 1983, 1985, and 1992 using structured interviews. The magnitude of the association between adolescent and adult anxiety or depressive disorders was quantified using odds ratios generated from logistic regression analyses and from a set of latent Markov analyses. We focus on longitudinal associations among narrowly definedDSManxiety or depressive disorders.

In simple logistic models, adolescent anxiety or depressive disorders predicted an approximate 2- to 3−fold increased risk for adulthood anxiety …