The role of parental psychopathology and family environment for social phobia in the first three decades of life.

Background: To examine the role of parental psychopathology and family environment for the risk of social phobia (SP) in offspring from childhood to early adulthood, encompassing the high risk period for SP.

Methods: A community sample of 1,395 adolescents was prospectively followed-up over 10 years. Offspring and parental psychopathology were assessed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) using the Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI), and direct diagnostic interviews in parents were supplemented by family history reports.

Risk and speed of transitions to first alcohol dependence symptoms in adolescents: a 10-year longitudinal community study in Germany.

Background: Although in many western countries alcohol use (AU) and symptoms of alcohol dependence (AD) are frequent in adolescence, temporal patterns and trajectories remain understudied. It is unclear whether early onset of AU is associated with the speed of transition to first AD symptoms and whether specific first AD symptoms and their timing are associated with AD.

Aims: To examine (i) the incidence patterns of self-reported first AD symptoms; (ii) whether early AU is associated with the risk and speed of transition to first AD symptoms; and (iii) whether first AD symptoms and their timing are associated with AD.