Co-occurrence of oppositional defiant disorder with generalized and separation anxiety disorders among inner-city children

Abstract

There is a paucity of research that has examined co-occurring oppositional defiant disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (ODD+GAD) symptoms and oppositional defiant disorder and separation anxiety disorder (ODD+SAD) symptoms among children. To address this gap, I investigated multiple explanations for the co-occurrence of ODD+GAD and ODD+SAD. Specifically, I investigated whether (a) GAD symptoms prospectively predicted ODD symptoms and SAD symptoms prospectively predicted ODD symptoms (Explanation 1), (b) ODD symptoms prospectively predicted GAD symptoms and ODD symptoms prospectively predicted SAD symptoms (Explanation 2), and (c) shared risk processes accounted for the co-occurrence of ODD+GAD and ODD+SAD (Explanation 3). Participants were an ethnic minority, inner-city sample of first through fourth grade children (N = 88, 51% male) and their primary caregivers. I used data collected at the baseline and 1-year follow-up assessments of the Child Health and Behavior Study, a longitudinal survey of families residing in North Philadelphia. Findings provided support for Explanation 2 and Explanation 3 in the development of co-occurring ODD+GAD symptoms and support for Explanation 3 in the development of co-occurring ODD+SAD symptoms. This study contributes to the extant literature by providing the first empirical examination of these multiple explanations in an ethnic minority, inner city sample of children.