Child Anxiety

Child anxiety is on the rise. Many young children exhibit high levels of anxiety, including anxiety around separation issues, performance at school and elsewhere, social anxiety, school phobias and panic attacks. Statistics indicate that 10% of children and adolescents over the age of six have a diagnosable anxiety disorder.

Child anxiety is a problem when:

• It prevents the child from performing common, everyday activities that most average children of a similar age can do.
• It is persistent, ongoing and has lasted more than a month.
• It upsets and distresses the child and often his or her family.

Signs and Symptoms of a Child Anxiety Disorder

The behavioral signs and symptoms listed below may signal a child anxiety disorder or the propensity for developing one.

• Constant worry about everyday activities, such as what's going to happen next and that they won't be able to handle it.
• Tension and anxiety in a variety of situations.
• Exhibits a need for a lot of reassurance.
• Complains about physical concerns and problems such as headaches and stomachaches.
• Avoidance of stressful situations such as tests and exams or interactions with others.
• Clingy behavior in young children.
• Signs of perfectionism, for example, constant erasure of school work.
• Extremely slow to complete tasks in order to ensure they are done correctly.
• Highly dependent on a parent or caregiver and reluctant to attend school and other activities without a significant other.
• Avoidance of activities that require independence.
• Tantrums and tears or clinging when a caregiver or parent leaves.
• Avoidance, refusal or reluctance to participate in social activities that might result in social scrutiny. Anxious children are often highly sensitive to other people watching them. They feel that they are being critical of them and noticing their mistakes.
• Physical symptoms such as flushing or an extremely quiet or shaky voice during social situations.

What Kind of Child is More Likely to Exhibit Signs and Symptoms of Child Anxiety?

• Children with inhibited or introverted temperaments may be more prone to anxiety, although this is not always the case. Nevertheless, introverted children are more apt to internalize their distress rather than to externalize it or act it out.

• Family history is frequently a factor. Anxiety disorders run in families. Children who have a family history of anxiety, often going back several generations, are at increased risk for developing an anxiety disorder.

• Similarly, children with highly anxious parents may exhibit high levels of anxiety themselves. And highly anxious parents who continually worry and fret about their children and/or who are overly protective can foster high levels of anxiety in their children.

• Children, who are experiencing high levels of family stress and/or conflict may exhibit signs and symptoms of anxiety.

  What Causes Child Anxiety Disorders?

  Multiple factors interact and contribute to child anxiety. The child, for example, may possess a genetic propensity for developing an anxiety disorder. Stressors in the child's environment, at home or at school, can trigger high levels of anxiety and increase the risk that the child will develop a child anxiety disorder.

  Are you worried about a child who exhibits symptoms of anxiety? Remember “understanding the problem is the key to solving it.” A mini-evaluation can help you assess whether high levels of the anxiety are a problem for a child. Observe the child's behavior and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. How frequently does the child exhibit symptoms of anxiety?

  2. On a scale of 1 to 10 how severe do you think the problem is? Is it hard to manage? How does it interfere with the child's life? How long do the symptoms of anxiety last? What effect do they have on the child and those around him or her?

  3. How long have these problems been of concern? When did you begin to notice them? How frequently do these symptoms occur?

  4. What factors or stressors do you think are contributing to anxiety in this child?

  Early intervention can help reduce anxious feelings in children and prevent problems from escalating. Children who exhibit high levels of anxiety or who suffer from an anxiety disorder also need help to develop healthy coping strategies to ameliorate and reduce their feelings of anxiety. Dr. O. Connor’s services can help you to help an anxious child.

  Contact Dr. O'Connor about child anxiety. She will respond to your question and offer recommendations for addressing your concerns about a child anxiety disorder.

  Dr. O'Connor also offers an “Assessment Based Solution” package to help children of anxious parents. When a parent suffers from an anxiety disorder his or her children are often at increased risk of developing an anxiety disorder themselves. To find out how a child of an anxious parent is doing and what you can do to help, click here.
  
  Contact Dr. O’Connor about an anxious child. Following her review of your concerns, she will recommend a solution package to help you help the anxious child.

  A psychological assessment can also help get to “the root of the problem” and point to effective strategies to address it.

  To learn more about child anxiety, including different types of anxiety disorders and how to help children who are experiencing high levels of anxiety, click here.
  
  You can also read our case study about a child who suffers from an anxiety disorder. Learn how a child with an anxiety disorder presents and what kind of strategies can help.

  ---

  Copyright 2002 (c) Dianne S. O'Connor, Ed.D. All Rights Reserved.

  Assessment Based Solutions
  447 Blythwood Road
  Toronto, Canada
  M4N 1A8
  

  Tel: 416.481.0893 Fax: 416.481.1213
  

  Contact Dr. O'Connor by email.
  
  Dr. O'Connor is also the author of I Can Be Me-A Helping Book for Children of Alcoholic Parents.