Polygenic risk score
Anxiety Disorders
ICD-11 6B00 · Anxiety and fear-related disorders
The anxiety polygenic risk score summarizes cumulative common-variant liability for the cluster of anxiety disorders, drawn from recent PGC analyses. Anxiety shows exceptionally high genetic correlation with depression, reflecting a shared internalizing architecture.
The genetic correlation between anxiety disorders and major depression is approximately 0.80 — one of the highest observed between any two psychiatric traits.
At a glance
Anxiety disorders are common and moderately heritable. Your score reflects the latest pooled PGC anxiety case-control GWAS.
Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, and related conditions characterized by excessive fear or worry. Heritability estimates range from 30-50%. The 2026 PGC-ANX meta-analysis (Strom et al.) pooled 122,083 European-ancestry anxiety cases and 729,602 controls across 35 cohorts to identify 58 independent genome-wide significant loci, highlighting GABAergic signaling among the implicated pathways.
What the GWAS actually found
Anxiety-disorder GWAS have historically been smaller than MDD or schizophrenia cohorts, in part because of diagnostic heterogeneity (generalized anxiety, panic, phobic, and social anxiety disorders are often aggregated). Recent PGC analyses highlight GABAergic signaling pathways among the top-enriched biology, consistent with the mechanism of benzodiazepine action on anxiety symptoms.
The anxiety PRS variance explained in liability remains modest (~2–3%) — the genetic signal is real but distributed across many loci with small per-variant effects. Twin-study heritability for generalized anxiety sits at roughly 0.30–0.40.
Full citation: Strom NI, Verhulst B, Bacanu SA, et al. (2026). Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling. Nature Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02485-8
How to read your percentile
Below 25th
Lower common-variant liability than most of the reference cohort. Anxiety remains common regardless of PRS — environment and life events dominate.
25th–75th
Typical range — near the population average. PRS is not clinically actionable at this percentile.
Above 75th
Elevated common-variant liability. Consider modifiable factors with stronger effect sizes than genetics: sleep, exercise, CBT access, caffeine reduction.
What this does not tell you
The anxiety PRS does not distinguish generalized anxiety from panic disorder, phobic disorders, or obsessive-compulsive spectrum conditions — the underlying GWAS pool often mixes these phenotypes. Symptom-specific and subtype-specific scoring remains an active research area.
Anxiety is strongly shaped by environment: chronic stress, trauma, social isolation, and caffeine intake all contribute substantial variance that a PRS cannot capture. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has among the strongest evidence bases of any psychiatric intervention — treatment response is not genetically predicted by this score.
Related traits
Anxiety Disorders shares common-variant architecture with several other psychiatric conditions. Genetic correlations (rg) reflect how often the same variants move risk for both traits in the same direction.
Frequently asked questions
Is anxiety 'genetic'?
Anxiety disorders have heritability around 30–40% in twin studies — real but lower than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The remaining variance comes from environmental exposures, coping style, trauma history, and treatment access.
Does the score differentiate generalized anxiety from panic?
No. Current anxiety GWAS typically pool multiple anxiety-spectrum diagnoses. Subtype-specific PRS is an active research direction but is not what this report produces.
Why does anxiety overlap so much with depression?
The genetic correlation between anxiety and MDD is approximately 0.80 — among the highest observed between psychiatric traits. This reflects shared internalizing genetic architecture: the same common variants push risk for both.
Can I do anything about elevated anxiety risk?
Yes. Regular aerobic exercise, reduced caffeine intake, consistent sleep, and access to cognitive-behavioral therapy have the strongest evidence bases for reducing anxiety symptoms. These are population-level findings, not personalized guidance.
Sources
- PGC Anxiety Disorders Working Group. pgc.unc.edu/for-researchers/working-groups/anxiety-disorders-workgroup/
- Purves et al. 2020 — Anxiety and MDD genetic overlap. doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0559-1
Note: This trait references a recent or pre-publication GWAS. Specific cohort numbers, loci counts, and variance-explained estimates on this page will be refined when the final peer-reviewed source is published. The product uses summary statistics from the source cited above.
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