Child Anxiety

Are you worried about a young person who is showing anxious behaviors? You are not alone.  Many young children exhibit elevated levels of anxiety. Some of these children show symptoms of separation anxiety, or social anxiety or anxiety around their performance at school or  elsewhere. Some  may exhibit phobias or have panic attacks.  Statistics indicate that 10% of children and adolescents over the age of six have a diagnosable anxiety disorder.

When Is Child Anxiety a Problem?

• When elevated levels of anxiety interfere with the child's ability to perform common, everyday activities that most average children of a similar age can do.
• When elevated levels of anxiety are persistent, ongoing and have lasted more than a month.
• When elevated levels of anxiety upset and distress 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 an anxiety disorder in a child or adolescent, or the potential 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.
• Shows a high need for a great deal  of reassurance.
• Complains about physical concerns and problems such as headaches and stomachaches.
• Avoids 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.
• Performance fears and a reluctance to engage in activities for fear of being judged and/or put down by others.
  

What Kind of Young Person is More Likely to Exhibit 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 elevated levels of anxiety themselves. Highly anxious parents who continually worry and fret about their children and/or who are overly protective can foster elevated 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.
• This is true as well of children who are experiencing elevated levels of learning and academic stress.
  

Is It A Child Anxiety Disorder?

Multiple factors interact and contribute to high levels of anxiety in a child or adolescent. 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 an anxiety disorder.

Are you worried about a child who exhibits symptoms of anxiety? How serious do you think the problem is?  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 need help to develop healthy coping strategies to ameliorate and reduce their anxious feelings. 

Dr. O'Connor offers comprehensive in depth,  Psychological Assessments to help get to the "root of the problem," in this case what is contributing to and maintaining the young person's anxiety. The psychological assessment leads to evidence based interventions to help support the anxious child.

Click here to learn how Dr. O'Connor tailors her psychological testing services to meet the needs of the anxious child, click here.

Click here to learn more about child anxiety disorders.