Pubertal stage and panic attack history in sixth- and seventh-grade girls

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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Although the incidence of first panic attacks appears to peak during adolescence, little is known about which features of adolescence contribute to the risk of a first panic episode. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative importance of age and pubertal stage in explaining the occurrence of panic attacks in adolescents. METHOD: From a school-based sample of sixth- and seventh- grade girls, 754 subjects completed both a structured clinical interview determining history of one or more panic episodes and a self- assessment of Tanner stages of pubertal development. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed with panic attack history as the dependent variable and pubertal stage, age, and their interaction as the independent variables. RESULTS: A history of one or more four- symptom panic attacks was found in 5.3% of the girls (N = 40). After age was controlled for, pubertal stage was significantly related to panic attack history. At each age, higher rates of panic attacks we...

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