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Anxiety Disorders

Research on generalized anxiety, panic, phobias, and social anxiety, including exposure-based treatment mechanisms.

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The research landscape

PubMed records indexed
19,538
Published in last 5 years
7,175
Active NIH grants
5,141
NIH funding
$52M

Publication volume by year

  • 415421
  • 411422
  • 409523
  • 297824
  • 265625
  • 154126

Under-studied questions

Derived from the indexed PubMed literature and NIH funding record for this topic. Verify each cited paper before relying on a gap in an application.

  • Reliance on cross-sectional designs in anxiety disorders research

    Well supported

    Across the 28 most recent NIH-indexed anxiety disorders articles analyzed, 6 (21%) explicitly surface this issue in their own title or abstract. A recurring, self-reported constraint at this rate is a concrete opening rather than a general complaint.

    Evidence

    Detected in 6 of 28 abstracts (21%) by matching the language authors themselves use to describe study limitations. Counts come from cached PubMed records, not from an interpretation of them.

    Possible dissertation angle

    Design a longitudinal follow-up that measures the same constructs at multiple timepoints so temporal ordering can actually be established.

    Sources (6)

    Derived from 28 PubMed records and 5141 active NIH grants.

  • Dependence on self-report measures in anxiety disorders research

    Tentative

    Across the 28 most recent NIH-indexed anxiety disorders articles analyzed, 2 (7%) explicitly surface this issue in their own title or abstract. A recurring, self-reported constraint at this rate is a concrete opening rather than a general complaint.

    Evidence

    Detected in 2 of 28 abstracts (7%) by matching the language authors themselves use to describe study limitations. Counts come from cached PubMed records, not from an interpretation of them.

    Possible dissertation angle

    Pair the standard self-report battery with an objective or behavioral index and quantify how much the two diverge.

    Sources (2)

    Derived from 28 PubMed records and 5141 active NIH grants.

  • Active NIH funding outpacing published output

    Moderately supported

    Anxiety Disorders has substantial active NIH investment relative to the volume of recent publications. This pattern typically means funded work is still in progress, so the near-term literature is thin and early contributions can land before the field consolidates.

    Evidence

    5141 active NIH projects totalling $52,023,947 against only 19,538 recent PubMed records — about 3.8 publications per funded project.

    Possible dissertation angle

    Position a project to complement in-flight funded work: replicate an early finding, build the measurement tool that the funded studies will need, or synthesize what has been published so far.

    Sources (4)

    Derived from 28 PubMed records and 5141 active NIH grants.

  • Declining publication activity in anxiety disorders

    Moderately supported

    Annual PubMed output for Anxiety Disorders is trending down by roughly 16% per year. Declining areas are sometimes genuinely resolved, but more often attention has moved on while open questions remain — worth checking which of the two applies here.

    Evidence

    Least-squares trend across yearly PubMed counts: 2021: 4154, 2022: 4114, 2023: 4095, 2024: 2978, 2025: 2656, 2026: 1541.

    Possible dissertation angle

    Audit what was actually settled versus abandoned in this literature, and target a question that was dropped for practical rather than scientific reasons.

    Sources (4)

    Derived from 28 PubMed records and 5141 active NIH grants.

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Recent literature

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