Understanding Child Anxiety
This chapter provides an overview of anxiety in general, and child anxiety in particular. A child who is anxious is typically going to overestimate the likelihood of negative events and to downplay the likelihood of positive ones. What is the ultimate outcome of these predictable patterns of thinking? If negative events seem highly probable, while positive events seem less likely, it is not surprising that anxious children tend to veer away from perceived risks and to move toward a more cautious course of action. The chapter then addresses some common questions asked by parents of children with anxiety. Multiple things can contribute to a child’s anxiety level, including internal and biological factors as well as external and environmental factors. Anxiety can also look very different in different children. It is useful to think about a child’s functioning in four separate domains: body, thoughts, behavior, and feelings. Anxiety can impact each domain in various ways.