Age-sex trends of phobic and anxiety symptoms in adolescents.

The prevalence of phobic and anxiety symptoms was investigated in school children and students aged 11-23 years by questionnaire to find age-sex trends of these symptoms. Phobic symptoms were found more prevalent in girls except for fear of talking. Among symptoms which tended to appear in anxiety or under stress, frequency of micturition was more prevalent in boys and the remaining symptoms showed no persistent sex difference. Fear of going out of doors alone and feeling of impending death tended to decrease with age. Symptoms which peaked in adolescence (fear of blushing, fear of being looked at and most anxiety symptoms) occurred at an earlier age in girls than in boys.