Pediatric anxiety and daily fine particulate matter: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Daily variations in ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) could contribute to the morbidity of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, but has not yet been studied longitudinally at a daily level. We tested this association using repeated weekly measures of anxiety symptom severity in a group of 23 adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder. After estimating ambient PM2.5 concentrations using a validated model, we found that increased concentrations were significantly associated with increased anxiety symptom severity and frequency two, three, and four days later. PM2.5 may be a novel, modifiable exposure that could inform population level interventions to decrease psychiatric morbidity.