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Childhood Anxiety
Shelley Boswell
What does anxiety look like?
Signs and symptoms may include:
Behavior
Cognitive
Physical
(Pledge, 2004; Prabhu, 2016, Beidel & Alfano,
2011, Merrell, 2008; Swearer, Givens, & Frerichs,
2010))
What are some common types of anxiety?
Separation anxiety disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Social Phobia
• Extreme reactions and panic around separation from
attachment figure.
• Free-floating worry
• Fear of new situations, people or circumstances
Panic Disorder
• Fear of having an extreme sudden and unexpected onset of
anxiety
Specific Phobia
• Persistent fear of objects or situations that evoke an immediate
anxious response
(Pledge, 2004; Swearer, Givens, & Frerichs, 2010; Auger, 2011)
What causes anxiety?
Biological/ Genetic
Temperament
Behavioral
Learned behavior/modeling
Family
Insecure attachment style
Stressful and Difficult Life Events
Cognitive (thoughts)
Unrealistic/Distorted thinking
(Pledge, 2004, Prochaska, Norcross, 2014; Merrell, 2008; Auger, 2011)
Why is it important to address?
Family
• Feeling unsafe to do daily
activity
• Affect daily routines
Community
School
• Can lead to other
mental and physical
health problems
• Social withdrawal
• Substance abuse
• School refusal
• Greater risk of
underachievement
• Impacts motivation
and engagement
(Pledge, 2004 ; Rucco, Gordon & McLean, 2016 ; Beidel & Alfano, 2011; Fletcher & Cassady, 2010; Swearer, Givens, & Frerichs, 2010; Merrell, 2008; Cooley, 2007)
When should parents and teachers seek
help?
Periods of worry and anxiety are not
necessarily a cause for concern. Fear
can be
- Survival instinct
- Powerful motivator
- Part of child development
Seek professional help when anxiety
- lasts for several weeks and months,
- is severe and out of proportion to the
situation,
- interferes significantly with academic,
emotional and social development,
- has not improved with class-based or
home-based interventions
- leads to avoidance of situations , and
- is not appropriate for child’s
developmental stage.
(Titov, Anderws, & McEvoy, 2010 ; Cooley, 2007; Merrel, 2008; Auger, 2011; Prabhu, 2016)
What can adults do to help?
Family
Be predictable
Community
Physicians
• Medication may be effective
in combination with therapy
in some cases.
Mental health therapists
• Cognitive-behaviour therapy,
mindfulness therapy,
behavior therapy can be
effective
•
Focus on routines
•
Have firm and clear expectations
Acknowledge and prevent
•
Empathize with the anxiety
•
Limit exposure to newscasts or realistic disaster movies
Teach positive coping strategies
•
Teach your child self-talk (I can do this…, How likely is that too
happened?, Would that be the end of the world?
•
Practice relaxation strategies (deep breathing)
•
Develop a plan to cope with “worst case scenario” fear
•
Be a model by managing your own anxiety
Reward, Reward, Reward
•
Reward positive coping behaviors
•
Be careful not to reward negative coping behaviors/ anxiety
Get the team involved
•
School
Be predictable
• Primary message - child will continue to
attend school
• Clear routines and expectations
Acknowledge and prevent
• Build support network
• Social Emotional Learning
• Empathize with anxiety
Possible academic supports
• Modify academic workload if necessary
• Provide check-ins during projects and
learning
Supportive environment
• Provide safe and caring environment
• Provide a safe space
Talk to your child’s teacher, counselor and family physician
(Pledge, 2004 ; Prabhu, 2016; Auger, 2011;
Swearer, Givens, & Frerichs, 2010; Cooley, 2007)
Bibliography
Auger, R. (2011). The school counselor’ mental health sourcebook: Strategies to help students succeed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Beidel, D. C., & Alfano, C. A. (2011). Child anxiety disorders: A guide to research and
Routledge.
treatment (2nd ed.). New York, NY:
Cooley, M. (2007). Teaching kids with mental health & learning disorders in the regular classroom : How to recognize, understand, and
help challenged (and challenging) students succeed. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc.
Fletcher, K., & Cassady, J. (2010). Overcoming academic anxieties: Promoting effective coping and self-regulation strategies. In J. Cassady
(Ed.), Anxiety in schools: The causes, consequences, and solutions for academic anxieties (pp. 177-200). New York, NY: Peter Lang
Publishing.
Merrell, K. (2008). Helping students overcome depression and anxiety: A practical guide (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Pledge, D. (2004). Counseling Adolescents and Children. Developing your Clinical
Style. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Prabhu, A. (2016). Helping children cope with fear and anxiety. Retrieved from http://www.cheo.on.ca/En/anxiety
Prochaska, J., & Norcross, J. (2014). Systems of psychotherapy: A transtheoretical analysis (8th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Swearer, S., Givens, J., & Frerichs, L. (2010). Cognitive-behavioral interventions for depression and anxiety. In G. Peacock, R. Ervin, E. Daly
III & K. Merrell (Eds.), Practical handbook of school psychology: Effective practices for the 21st century (pp. 440-458). New York, NY: The
Guilford Press
Titov, N., Andrews, G., & McEvoy, P. (2010). Using low intensity interventions in the treatment of anxiety disorders. In J. Bennett-Levy, D.
Richards, P. Farrand, K. Griffiths, D. Kavanagh, B. Klein, . . . H. Christensen (Eds.), Oxford guide to low intensity CBT interventions (pp. 169176). Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.