Current and lifetime comorbidity of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders in a large clinical sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 110:585– 99. [aAOJC

The comorbidity of current and lifetime DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders was examined in 1,127 outpatients who were assessed with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Lifetime version (ADIS-IV-L). The current and lifetime prevalence of additional Axis I disorders in principal anxiety and mood disorders was found to be 57 % and 81%, respectively. The principal diagnostic categories associated with the highest comorbidity rates were mood disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). A high rate of lifetime comorbidity was found between the anxiety and mood disorders; the lifetime association with mood disorders was particularly strong for PTSD, GAD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social phobia. The findings are discussed in regard to their implications for the classification of emotional disorders. Diagnostic comorbidity refers to the co-occurrence of two or more current or lifetime mental disorders in the same individual. Although large-scale clinical and community studies of the diag-nostic comorbidity of anxiety and mood disorders have only ap-peared over the past decade (e.g., T.A. Brown & Barlow, 1992; Kessler et al., 1996; Wittchen, Zhao, Kessler, & Eaton, 1994)