Pediatric anxiety and daily fine particulate matter: A longitudinal study

Daily variations in ambient fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) 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 PM(2.5) 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. PM(2.5) may be a novel, modifiable exposure that could inform population level interventions to decrease psychiatric morbidity.