Although there is evidence that anxiety disorders are relatively common in later life, they have received less attention than other psychiatric disturbances. In a large community-based study of older people (n = 3056, 55-85 years) in the Netherlands, the prevalence of anxiety disorders was estimated at 10.2%. Generalized anxiety (7.3%) and the phobic disorder (3.1%) were quite common, while panic disorder (1.0%) and obsessive compulsive disorder (0.6%) appear to be relatively rare among the elderly. The study of riskfactors supports using the vulnerability-stress model to conceptualize the etiology of anxiety disorders. On the whole, vulnerability factors appear to dominate the etiology of anxiety disorders in later life.