Journal
JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH
Volume 39, Issue 2, Pages 207-214Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2004.06.001
Keywords
anxiety; neuropsychological functions; panic disorder; social phobia; obsessive-compulsive disorder; episodic memory
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Most of the available evidence on neuropsychological functioning in anxiety disorders is based on clinical samples, investigating persons affected by obsessive-compulsive disorder. Knowledge is sparse regarding cognitive functions in other types of anxiety disorders. The aim of this study was to examine whether persons diagnosed with an anxiety disorder show neuropsychological impairments relative to healthy controls in tasks tapping episodic memory, verbal fluency, psychornotor speed, and executive functioning. Population-based samples comprising individuals affected by panic disorder with and without agoraphobia or agoraphobia (n = 33), social phobia (n = 32), generalised anxiety disorder (n = 7), obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 16), and specific phobia (n = 24) were compared with healthy controls (n = 175) in test performance. Overall, the total anxiety disorder group exhibited significant impairments in episodic memory and executive functioning. Separate analyses on the respective anxiety subgroup indicated that panic disorder with and without agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder were related to impairments in both episodic memory and executive functioning. In addition, social phobia was associated with episodic memory dysfunction. Verbal fluency and psychomotor speed were not affected by anxiety. Specific phobia and generalised anxiety disorder did not affect neuropsychological functioning. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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