Anxiety is a common characteristic of all anxiety disorders, the most common psychiatric disorders in adolescence. About one in three teenagers is affected. Some of these disorders – such as panic disorder orgeneralized anxiety (Generalized anxiety disorder, also called neurosis…) [1] – tend to appear a little later in the life (Life is the name given 🙂, or to consolidate in early adulthood. Therefore, the detection of individuals at high risk of developing a anxiety (Anxiety is for biological phenomenological psychiatry and…) clinic (which fulfills criteria for diagnostic (The diagnosis (from the Greek δι?γνωση, diágnosi, from…) precise) is crucial.
For the first time, a team led by Inserm researchers Jean-Luc Martinot and Éric Artiges, within the Developmental Trajectories and psychiatry (Psychiatry is a medical specialty dealing with mental illness or…) (Inserm/ENS Paris-Saclay) and the Borelli Center [2] (CNRS/Paris-Saclay University), researched predictors of the onset of anxiety disorders in adolescence. They followed the evolution of the Mental Health (Mental health is a relatively recent and polysemous term. Usually…) of a group of teenagers from 14 to 23 years old. Thanks to the’artificial intelligence (Artificial intelligence or cognitive computing is the “finding of means…), they identified the most predictive warning signs in adolescence of the onset of anxiety disorders in these young adults. The results of this study are published in Molecular Psychiatry.
A person suffers from anxiety disorders when she experiences strong and lasting anxiety unrelated to any real danger or threat, which interferes with her normal functioning and daily activities. These disorders, including frequency (In physics, frequency generally refers to the measurement of the number of times a…) is high in the general population (about 21% of adults would be affected at least once in their lifetime) often begin in childhood or adolescence. Thus, better identification in these age groups would prevent aggravation of symptoms over the course of life.
Previous studies have highlighted the predictive power of artificial intelligence in the context of psychiatric illnesses such as depression or addictions [3]. However, no study had previously focused on the research (Scientific research designates in the first place all the actions undertaken with a view to…) predictors of anxiety disorders.
Researchers in the Developmental Trajectories and Psychiatry laboratory (unit 1299 Inserm) at the Borelli Center (unit 9010 CNRS) have attempted to detect early warning signs, in adolescence, of the onset of anxiety disorders in adulthood.
For this, the scientists followed a group of more than 2,000 European adolescents aged 14 at the time of their inclusion in the Imagen cohort. [4]. Study volunteers completed online questionnaires about their health status. health (Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and is not…) psychology at 14, 18 and 23 years old. The follow-up in the time (Time is a concept developed by human beings to apprehend the…) volunteers made it possible to measure the evolution of the diagnosis of anxiety.
A study oflearning (Learning is the acquisition of know-how, i.e. the process…)statistical (A statistic is, at first glance, a number calculated about a sample….)thrust (In aerodynamics, thrust is the force exerted by moving air…) based on an artificial intelligence algorithm then made it possible to determine whether some of the answers formulated in adolescence (14 years) had an impact on the individual diagnosis of anxiety disorders in adulthood (18-23 years).
Three major predictors or warning signs have been identified, the presence of which in adolescence significantly increases the statistical risk of anxiety disorders in adulthood. These are neuroticism, hopelessness, and emotional symptoms.
Part of the study also looked at theobservation (Observation is the action of attentive follow-up of phenomena, without the will to see them…) of brain (The brain is the main organ of the central nervous system of animals. The brain processes…) volunteers from examsimagery (Imagery is primarily the making and trading of physical images that…) by magnetic resonance (MRI). As brain development involves a change in volume (Volume, in physical or mathematical sciences, is a quantity that measures extension…) of different brain regions during adolescence, the researchers wanted to identify in these images a possible change in the volume of the matter (Matter is the substance that makes up any body having a tangible reality. Its…) gray which could be predictive of future (Futurs is a science fiction collection from Éditions de l’Aurore.) anxiety disorders.
If imagery did not improve the performance of predicting anxiety disorders in their together (In set theory, a set intuitively designates a collection…) compared to only data (In information technology (IT), data is an elementary description, often…) from the questionnaires, it could nevertheless make it possible to determine more precisely the type of anxiety disorder towards which a person is likely to evolve.
“Our study reveals for the first time that it is possible to predict in an individualized way, from adolescence, the appearance of future anxiety disorders. These identified predictors or warning signs could make it possible to detect people at risk earlier and to offer them an adapted and personalized intervention, while limiting the progression of these pathologies and their consequences on daily life”explains Jean-Luc Martinot, director of research at Inserm and child psychiatrist, co-author of the study.
Notes:
[1] There are several types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety, panic disorder, specific phobias, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder, and anxiety disorder. separation (Generally speaking, the word separation designates an action consisting in separating something…).
[2] research center in math (Mathematics is a field of abstract knowledge constructed using…) applied.
[3] Whelan R, Watts R, Orr C. et al. Neuropsychosocial profiles of current and future adolescent alcohol misusers. Nature 512, 185-189 (2014).
[4] Imagen is a European cohort study that recruited 2,223 adolescents aged 14 between 2008 and 2011. This cohort is made up of young people from the general population and not patients.
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