No Effects of D-Cycloserine Enhancement in Exposure With Response Prevention Therapy in Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia: A Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose/background: D-cycloserine (DCS) is a partial N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor agonist that potentially augments response to exposure therapy in anxiety disorders by enhancing extinction learning. This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled augmentation trial examined (1) the effectiveness of adding 125 mg of DCS to exposure therapy (before or directly after the first 6 treatment sessions) in patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia and (2) the effectiveness of DCS augmentation preceding exposure relative to DCS augmentation directly postexposure.

Methods/procedures: Fifty-seven patients were allocated to 1 of 3 medication conditions (placebo and pre-exposure and postexposure DCS) as an addition to 6 exposure sessions within a 12-session exposure and response prevention protocol.

Presence and Predictive Value of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Anxiety and Depressive Disorders.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) co-occur frequently with anxiety and depressive disorders, but the nature of their relationship and their impact on severity of anxiety and depressive disorders is poorly understood. In a large sample of patients with anxiety and depressive disorders, we assessed the frequency of OCS, defined as a Young Adult Self-Report Scale-obsessive-compulsive symptoms score >7. The associations between OCS and severity of anxiety and/or depressive disorders were examined, and it was investigated whether OCS predict onset, relapse, and persistence of anxiety and depressive disorders.

Threat expectancy bias and treatment outcome in patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia.

Background And Objectives: Previous studies suggest that patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia (PD/A) tend to overestimate the associations between fear-relevant stimuli and threat. This so-called threat expectancy bias is thought to play a role in the development and treatment of anxiety disorders. The current study tested 1) whether patients with PD/A (N = 71) show increased threat expectancy ratings to fear-relevant and fear-irrelevant stimuli relative to a comparison group without an axis I disorder (N=65), and 2) whether threat expectancy bias before treatment predicts treatment outcome in a subset of these patients (n = 51).

Clinical relevance of comorbidity in obsessive compulsive disorder: the Netherlands OCD Association study.

Background: This study describes lifetime and current rates of comorbidity, its onset and its consequences in a large clinical sample of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). A wide range of risk factors and clinical characteristics were also examined to determine whether pure OCD is different from OCD with current comorbidity. Finally, the temporal sequencing of the disorders was examined.

Clinical relevance of comorbidity in anxiety disorders: a report from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA).

Background: To study the clinical relevance of type of comorbidity and number of comorbid disorders in anxiety disorders. Four groups were compared according to sociodemographic-, vulnerability- and clinical factors: single anxiety disorder, anxiety-anxiety comorbidity, anxiety-depressive comorbidity and "double" comorbidity (i.e.