The Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project-Phase II (HARP-II): Rationale, methods, and features of the sample at intake

We describe the rationale, method, and intake demographic and clinical findings of the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project-Phase II (HARP-II). HARP-II is the first prospective, observational, longitudinal study to describe the characteristics and course of anxiety in African American, Latino, and Non-Latino White individuals. Participants met criteria for at least one of the following disorders: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Panic Disorder with or without Agoraphobia, Agoraphobia without history of Panic Disorder, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Initial intake data, collected between 2004 and 2011, are presented for 165 African American, 150 Latino, and 172 Non-Latino White participants. Participants evidenced substantial psychiatric comorbidity (mean number of Axis I disorders = 3.4), and moderate to severe symptoms and functional impairment. HARP-II will examine clinical course, in the context of potential socio-cultural and individual moderators (e.g., discrimination, acculturation, negative affect). Results should lead to improved understanding, prognostics, and treatment of anxiety in diverse populations.