scholarly journals Bad dreams, bedtime anxiety, and trait anxiety in school-aged children

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-273
Author(s):  
Michael Schredl

Abstract Background and objectives Occasional nightmares (distressing dreams that awaking the sleeper) and bad dreams (distressing dreams that do not awaking the sleeper) are very common in children and adolescents. About 5% of children experience frequent nightmares (once a week or more often) and the question arises as to what factors contribute to significant nightmare distress which is basic for diagnosing a nightmare disorder. Materials and methods A sample of 624 school-aged children (10–16 years; mean age 12.45 ± 1.33 years) completed a dream questionnaire and an anxiety inventory. Results About 11% of the participants reported frequent bad dreams; 3.5% reported frequent bedtime anxieties due to bad dreams. Similar to the findings in adults, distress due to bad dreams was not only related to bad dream frequency but also to trait anxiety—controlling for the direct effect of trait anxiety on bad dream frequency, i.e., bad dream frequency and trait anxiety contributed independently to bedtime anxiety due to bad dreams. In the exploratory part, the cultural background of the children’s parents showed only minor effects on bad dreams. Conclusion Similar to nightmare studies in adults, bad dream frequency and trait anxiety contributed independently to bad dream distress. Based on the current diagnostic criteria of the nightmare disorder, it would be interesting to have the opportunity to treat children with significant distress due to nightmares or bad dreams and study the long-term benefit—given that many adult nightmare sufferers reported that their nightmares started in childhood.

Author(s):  
Lizeta N. Bakola ◽  
Nikolaos D. Rizos ◽  
Athanasios S. Drigas

<p>This paper aims at reviewing the supportive and therapeutic contribution of ICTs on the most common psychoemotional disorders of childhood and adolescence. The various approaches to classifying behavioral and emotional dysregulations in children and adolescents have been reviewed and the boundaries between normative variation and clinically significant presentations have been determined. Furthermore, we present the major categories of mental illnesses in children and adolescents investigating the etiology, the diagnostic criteria, the epidemiology and treatments by critically reviewing the outcomes of relevant studies. The findings indicate that significant steps have been made in this field, but it is vital to underline the need for more extended investigation in school aged children and adolescents for this purpose.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiguang Ren ◽  
Charissa Cheah ◽  
Junsheng Liu

Objective. The outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was an unprecedented global public health emergency with a significant psychological toll. This study aimed to understand how specific COVID-19 related stressors contributed to Chinese parents’ fear induction practices, and how these practices, in turn, contributed to their children’s disease prevention practices during the outbreak and depressive symptoms after the outbreak. Method. Parents (N=240, Mage=38.50 years, 75% mothers) with elementary-school-aged children (Mage=9.48 years, 46% girls) in Wenzhou, one of the most impacted cities in China, reported on the presence of confirmed or suspected cases in their communities, their frequencies of consuming COVID-19-related information, fear induction practices, and their children’s trait anxiety and disease prevention practices during the outbreak (January 28 to 30, 2020). Child-reported depressive symptoms were collected between March 7 and 11, 2020, during which there were very few remaining cases and no new confirmed cases or deaths. Results. Parents’ higher frequency of virus-related information consumption but not the presence of community infection was associated with their engagement in more fear induction practices, which was in turn associated with children’s greater engagement in prevention practices during the outbreak, but more post-quarantine depressive symptoms. Child trait anxiety exacerbated the association between parent fear induction and child depressive symptoms. Conclusion. Using fear induction parenting may promote children’s willingness to cooperate and participate in disease prevention practices during the crisis but at the cost of children’s long-term mental health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2049-2067
Author(s):  
Karmen L. Porter ◽  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Loretta Pecchioni

Purpose This study examined caregiver perceptions of their child's language and literacy disorder as influenced by communications with their speech-language pathologist. Method The participants were 12 caregivers of 10 school-aged children with language and literacy disorders. Employing qualitative methods, a collective case study approach was utilized in which the caregiver(s) of each child represented one case. The data came from semistructured interviews, codes emerged directly from the caregivers' responses during the interviews, and multiple coding passes using ATLAS.ti software were made until themes were evident. These themes were then further validated by conducting clinical file reviews and follow-up interviews with the caregivers. Results Caregivers' comments focused on the types of information received or not received, as well as the clarity of the information. This included information regarding their child's diagnosis, the long-term consequences of their child's disorder, and the connection between language and reading. Although caregivers were adept at describing their child's difficulties and therapy goals/objectives, their comments indicated that they struggled to understand their child's disorder in a way that was meaningful to them and their child. Conclusions The findings showed the value caregivers place on receiving clear and timely diagnostic information, as well as the complexity associated with caregivers' understanding of language and literacy disorders. The findings are discussed in terms of changes that could be made in clinical practice to better support children with language and literacy disorders and their families.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
E RYAN ◽  
C OLOUGHLIN ◽  
M LEDWIDGE ◽  
B TRAVERS ◽  
M RYDER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  

A lot has been published on the topic concussion in sports during the last years, conscience was sharpened, much was structured and defined more precisely, help tools were developed and rules changed. This article summarizes the fifth edition of the recently published guidelines of the “International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport”. In addition, new findings regarding gender differences and recovery will be presented, as well as the modified “return-to-sport” and the novel “return-to-school” protocols. Despite increased knowledge many questions remain such as the therapy of persistent symptoms or long-term sequelae of recurrent concussions.


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