Child Anxiety

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-42
Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Adolescent Anxiety ◽  
Healthy Habits ◽  
Illness Anxiety ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

This chapter discusses the main types of childhood and adolescent anxiety. There is no limit to the variety of things that can cause a child anxiety, but some fears and worries are more common than others. The most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorders include separation anxiety; social anxiety (also called social phobia); generalized anxiety; phobias; panic disorder; agoraphobia; obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); illness anxiety; and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, which is not an anxiety disorder per se, but is commonly associated with fear and anxiety. Of all the emotional and mental health problems that occur during childhood and adolescence, anxiety is the most treatable. Treatments for childhood and adolescent anxiety include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication for anxiety. Healthy habits can also help to keep anxiety under control.

Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Supportive Parenting ◽  
Common Mental Health Problems

Anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are the most common mental health problems of childhood and adolescence. Parents of anxious children struggle with how to help their child and are faced with constant dilemmas, such as how to respond to their child’s anxiety. This book provides a practical step-by-step guide for parents to help children and adolescents overcome anxiety and OCD in a positive and loving manner. It builds on rich clinical experience and on rigorous scientific evidence for the efficacy of a completely parent-based program called SPACE, or Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. Working through the steps in the book, parents replace accommodating behaviors—which can maintain the child’s symptoms—with supportive responses that convey both acceptance of the child’s genuine difficulty and confidence in the ability to cope.

scholarly journals Neuropsychological deficits in internalizing and externalizing disorders

Psychologica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-92
Author(s):  
Daniel Rama-Victor ◽  
Jose A. Piqueras
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Externalizing Disorders ◽  
Neuropsychological Deficits ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Assessment And Treatment ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing

Over the past three decades, our understanding of the nature, assessment and treatment of childhood mental disorders has increased significantly. Some of the most recent advances come from transdiagnostic and neuropsychological-based approaches. While the relationship of similar neuropsychological deficits with some mental disorders, such as neurodevelopmental and severe mental disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, is widely established, there is more controversy about their relationship with the so-called internalizing and externalizing disorders. In this article, our goal was to highlight the potential of incorporating cognitive strategies from integrative neuropsychological and transdiagnostic approaches to improve the effectiveness of empirically-supported cognitive-behavioral therapy for internalizing and externalizing mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. The results of the present work indicate that the vast majority of internalizing disorders, including the presence of anxiety, depressive, trauma-and stress-related, and obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, as well as externalizing symptoms (corresponding to conduct disorder and ODD), present neuropsychological deficits and that their consideration may be relevant to improve the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions in children and adolescents by incorporating neuropsychology-based assessment and treatment tools. The inclusion of neuropsychological support strategies in therapy for childhood mental disorders implies an advance and has clear implications for the enhancement of psychological care for childhood mental disorders.

SPACE, Parent-Based Treatment for Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: Clinical Case Illustration

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz ◽  
Jennifer M. Majdick
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood Anxiety ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Childhood Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Adolescent Anxiety ◽  
Supportive Parenting ◽  
Efficacious Treatment

Efficacious treatments for childhood anxiety disorders include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and medications, yet there is urgent need for additional efficacious treatment modalities. Parent-based treatment provides such an alternative. Recent literature has supported that SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), an entirely parent-based treatment, is as efficacious as CBT in reducing child anxiety. SPACE focuses on systematically reducing family accommodation, or changes to parental behavior aimed at alleviating or avoiding a child's distress related to their anxiety disorder, while maintaining a supportive stance toward the child. To date, SPACE is the only intervention that places the reduction of parental accommodation at the center of its theoretical foundation and treatment objectives. This article provides theoretical and empirical background for SPACE and illustrates its implementation through a case description.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY DISORDER SYMPTOMS AND NEGATIVE SELF-STATEMENTS IN NORMAL CHILDREN

1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Muris ◽  
Harald Merckelbach ◽  
Birgit Mayer ◽  
Nienke Snieder
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Separation Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
The Relationship

The current study examined the relationship between anxiety disorder symptoms and negative self-statements in a sample of normal children (N=119). Children were asked to complete the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) and the Negative Affect Self-Statement Questionnaire (NASSQ). Results showed that, in normal children, there is a positive relationship between anxiety disorder symptoms, as indexed by the SCARED, and negative self-statements, as measured by the NASSQ. In particular, anxious self-statements were more often present in children who exhibited relatively high levels of anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, depressive and anxiousdepressive self-statements were found to be positively associated with the presence of symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and panic disorder.

scholarly journals The Effect of an Anxiety-Coping Program for Children Based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on 4th Graders’ Anxiety Levels

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aykut Kul ◽  
Zeynep Hamamcı
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral ◽  
Control Group ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Experimental Group

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an anxiety-coping program for children based on cognitive behavioral therapy on children’s anxiety levels. The study was conducted with 12 students in the fourth grade of primary school. Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) was during the study for data collection. Students in the experimental group participated in a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based anxiety coping program consisting of eight sessions. No study was conducted with the students in the control group. A mixed design of 2x3 was used in the study. Follow-up measurement was performed six months after the study was completed. In the analysis of the data, Mann Whitney U test and Friedman test were used. As a result of the analysis, a significant decrease was observed in the general anxiety, general anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and social anxiety levels of the participants in the experiment group after the intervention which continued during the follow-up period. Furthermore there was no statistically significant decrease in panic disorder/somatic symptoms and school phobia levels of the participants in the experimental group. The findings indicated that the anxiety-coping program for children based on cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in terms of decreasing the anxiety levels of children.

scholarly journals The Effect of an Anxiety-Coping Program for Children Based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on 4th Graders’ Anxiety Levels

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aykut Kul ◽  
◽  
Zeynep Hamamcı
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral ◽  
Control Group ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Experimental Group

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an anxiety-coping program for children based on cognitive behavioral therapy on children’s anxiety levels. The study was conducted with 12 students in the fourth grade of primary school. Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) was during the study for data collection. Students in the experimental group participated in a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based anxiety coping program consisting of eight sessions. No study was conducted with the students in the control group. A mixed design of 2x3 was used in the study. Follow-up measurement was performed six months after the study was completed. In the analysis of the data, Mann Whitney U test and Friedman test were used. As a result of the analysis, a significant decrease was observed in the general anxiety, general anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and social anxiety levels of the participants in the experiment group after the intervention which continued during the follow-up period. Furthermore there was no statistically significant decrease in panic disorder/somatic symptoms and school phobia levels of the participants in the experimental group. The findings indicated that the anxiety-coping program for children based on cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in terms of decreasing the anxiety levels of children.

Fear and Anxiety in Young Children and Their Assessment

2019 ◽  
pp. 387-416
Author(s):  
Suzanne Broeren ◽  
Jennifer L. Hudson ◽  
Ronald M. Rapee
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

Fear and anxiety are normal aspects of childhood development. For some young children, the experience of fear and anxiety can become severe and chronic and can start to interfere with daily life. If intervention is not provided, these problems tend to remain fairly stable over childhood and adolescence and are associated with an increased risk for other mental health problems across the life span. Before interventions can be delivered to young children, early detection of fear and anxiety using psychometrically sound and standardized measures is needed. In addition to providing a review of fear and anxiety in young children, this chapter provides a summary of the methods used to assess anxiety in this age group, discussing relevant measures along with the pragmatics of assessment. A multimethod, multisource approach to the assessment of fear and anxiety in young children is recommended.

The impact of intensive treatment for pediatric anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder on daily functioning

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Sperling ◽  
Kathryn Boger ◽  
Mona Potter
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Intensive Treatment ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Outpatient Group ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated whether intensive group-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with family involvement for children with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) would facilitate children’s return to their daily routines. The focus shifted from the usual emphasis on remission to an improvement in functioning. The aim was to capture potentially missed gains when children pursue their fears and engage in more adaptive behaviors as these efforts may result in ongoing symptoms. Two hundred twelve children and adolescents aged 8–19 years old, who were patients in an intensive outpatient group-based treatment program at an academic hospital, participated in this study. Results indicated that both children and their parents endorsed significant improvement in children’s functioning from admission to discharge. Symptom reduction was assessed for reference, and both children and parents reported significant decreases in child anxiety symptoms from admission to discharge, and children endorsed decreases in their comorbid depression symptoms. Short-term group-based intensive treatment in a clinical setting may help children return to their daily activities quickly.

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