If both of my parents have anxiety, will I definitely get it?

No. A strong family history raises your odds, but it does not guarantee anything. Genes explain only part of anxiety risk, and life experiences, stress, and coping skills shape the rest.

Is anxiety inherited from the mother or the father?

Research does not show that anxiety passes mainly through one parent. Risk comes from many gene variants inherited from both parents. A parent's anxious behavior at home can also shape a child's anxiety, whichever parent it is.

Is panic disorder more genetic than generalized anxiety disorder?

In the 2001 Hettema meta-analysis, heritability was 0.43 for panic disorder and 0.32 for generalized anxiety disorder. That suggests genes play a somewhat larger role in panic disorder. Both estimates come from a limited number of twin studies, so they are approximate.

Can anxiety skip a generation?

It can look that way. Because anxiety depends on many genes plus the environment, a grandparent and grandchild may both have it while the parent in between does not. This pattern is common for polygenic conditions.

Does having a family history change how anxiety is treated?

No. Treatment is based on your symptoms and diagnosis, not your DNA. Talk therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and medicine are standard options whether or not anxiety runs in your family.

Is Anxiety Genetic, and Does It Run in Families?

The short answer: Yes, anxiety disorders run in families, and genes explain part of that. Twin studies put the heritability of anxiety disorders at about 30% to 60%. Close relatives of a person with an anxiety disorder have about 4 to 6 times the odds of having one too. But genes are not destiny: life events, stress, and what children learn at home also matter, and no genetic test can diagnose or predict anxiety.

How much of anxiety is genetic?

Scientists measure this with twin studies. Identical twins share all their genes. Fraternal twins share about half. If identical twins match more often for a condition, genes are likely part of the cause.

The best-known summary is a 2001 meta-analysis in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Hettema, Neale, and Kendler. It pooled family and twin studies of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It estimated heritability at 0.43 for panic disorder and 0.32 for GAD (Hettema et al., 2001). In plain terms, genes explained about 43% of the variation in risk for panic disorder and about 32% for GAD in those studies.

Later research gives a similar range. A 2020 study in Molecular Psychiatry describes anxiety disorders as having twin heritabilities of 30% to 60% (Purves et al., 2020). A review in Current Psychiatry Reports calls anxiety disorders "moderately heritable" (Meier and Deckert, 2019).

Heritability is a population number. It does not mean 32% of your own anxiety came from your parents. It means that, across a group, about that share of the differences between people traces back to genetic differences. The rest comes from environment and chance.

How much higher is my risk if a parent or sibling has anxiety?

Family studies compare relatives of people with and without an anxiety disorder. In the Hettema meta-analysis, first-degree relatives (parents, siblings, and children) had summary odds ratios of 4 to 6, depending on the disorder (Hettema et al., 2001). That means the odds of having the disorder were roughly 4 to 6 times higher in these relatives.

Higher odds still leave most relatives unaffected. Many people with a parent who has panic disorder or GAD never develop either one. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) puts it simply: GAD may run in families, but the exact cause is unknown (NIMH).

The same meta-analysis found that the "rest" of the risk was mostly what researchers call the nonshared environment. These are experiences unique to each person, such as a specific trauma, illness, or stressful job. For GAD in women, the shared family environment may also have played a role (Hettema et al., 2001).

Which genes are linked to anxiety?

There is no single "anxiety gene." Anxiety is polygenic. That means many common gene variants each add a very small amount of risk (Meier and Deckert, 2019).

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) scan the DNA of very large groups to find these variants. Two large studies stand out:

Million Veteran Program (2020). Researchers studied anxiety scores in 199,611 U.S. veterans. They found five significant gene regions in European Americans and one in African Americans. The strongest were near SATB1, which controls how other genes switch on, and ESR1, which makes an estrogen receptor (Levey et al., 2020).
UK Biobank (2020). This study compared 25,453 people with lifetime anxiety disorder to 58,113 controls. It found five new gene regions, including one near NTRK2, a receptor for a brain growth factor called BDNF. Common variants explained about 26% of the risk for lifetime anxiety disorder (Purves et al., 2020).

Anxiety genes overlap heavily with depression genes. In the veterans study, the genetic correlation between anxiety scores and depression was 0.81 (Levey et al., 2020). This helps explain why the two conditions so often travel together, in the same person and in the same family. If depression also runs in your family, depression.md covers its warning signs and treatment.

Can anxiety be learned from parents instead of inherited?

Yes, and some evidence says learning matters a lot. A 2015 Swedish study used a "children of twins" design with 385 identical and 486 fraternal twin families. It asked whether teens got their anxiety from their parents' genes or from living with an anxious parent (Eley et al., 2015).

The study found significant direct environmental transmission from parents to teens. It found no significant genetic transmission at that age. The authors suggest children may learn anxious behavior by watching their parents (Eley et al., 2015).

This does not cancel out the twin studies. Genetic effects may differ between the teen years and adulthood, as the authors note. It does mean an anxious household can shape a child's anxiety even beyond shared DNA. Parents who want to spot early signs can read the signs of anxiety in children that parents often miss.

Environment also acts on its own. NIMH notes that a traumatic event or a stressful environment may raise the risk of GAD (NIMH). MedlinePlus states that genes may play a role, and that stress may also contribute (MedlinePlus).

Can a genetic test tell if I will get anxiety?

No. No genetic test diagnoses an anxiety disorder or predicts who will get one. Each known variant has a tiny effect, and together they explain only part of the risk (Purves et al., 2020). The Meier and Deckert review notes that only a few risk regions have been found so far and that much larger studies are still needed (Meier and Deckert, 2019).

Diagnosis is clinical. A clinician asks about your symptoms and how long they have lasted. For GAD, NIMH says worry must be hard to control on most days for at least 6 months, with at least three other symptoms (NIMH). A provider may also order lab tests to rule out physical conditions with similar symptoms (MedlinePlus). For a full symptom list, see the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

Some consumer tests are sold to guide psychiatric medicine choices. Those look at how your body processes drugs. They do not tell you whether you have, or will get, an anxiety disorder.

What can you do with a family history of anxiety?

A family history is useful information, not a sentence. Here is how to use it:

Tell your clinician. Family history helps a provider weigh your symptoms. Mention depression too, given the strong genetic overlap.
Act early on symptoms. NIMH says to seek help when anxiety starts to cause problems at school, at work, or with friends and family (NIMH).
Know that treatment works the same way. Talk therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and medicine are standard options, alone or together (MedlinePlus). A family history does not make treatment less effective.
Model calm coping for your kids. The children-of-twins findings suggest that how parents handle fear can shape how children handle it.

NIMH continues to fund research on both genetic and environmental factors in anxiety disorders, including family factors in children and teens (NIMH). If you are unsure whether your symptoms need care, see when to see a doctor about anxiety.

The bottom line

Anxiety does run in families. Twin studies credit genes with roughly 30% to 60% of the risk, and close relatives have about 4 to 6 times the odds. Many common gene variants each add a small push, and many of them overlap with depression. But environment, stress, and learned behavior matter just as much, and no DNA test can diagnose anxiety. A family history is a good reason to watch for symptoms and get help early.

Last updated: October 2026. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Talk with a licensed clinician about your own symptoms, family history, and treatment options.