Childhood Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia, affecting one in four people (Beyond Blue, 2018, Anxiety. para. 3). A number of factors can influence anxiety, such as; personality traits, life experiences, health problems or a genetic disposition. Children with a tendency towards perfectionism, control, a lack of self-esteem, nervousness or shyness, are more likely to suffer from anxiety. Triggers can include a change of environment, relationship troubles, domestic unrest, a stressful or traumatic event, abuse or the death of a loved one.

“Is a 17-item Likert-type self-report instrument assessing fear, avoidance, and physiological symptoms associated with social phobia”

There were two studies that examined the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). The Hale III et al. (2014) prospective cohort study was conducted to determine if frequent administration of the SCARED further distinguished between false positives and true positives with regard to DSM-5 diagnostic symptoms of anxiety disorder. While the Simon et al. (2009) prospective study was conducted to determine if results relating to high-anxious and median-anxious on the SCARED could be used to distinguish and predict various anxiety disorders. Both authors believe that anxiety disorders can take a serious toll on the quality of life and can financially drain the society. Simon et al. goes on to say that anxiety disorders that

Emotional and behavioural problems in early years can be classified in to two areas, which is internalising disorders and externalising disorders (Roz Walker, Monique Robinson, Jenny Adermann and Marilyn A. Campbell, 2014). Internalising disorders involves thought and feelings (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Children often show fears and worries in different situations (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Persistent of fear and worries may caused by anxiety or depression (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Anxiety and depression are the examples of internalising disorders. Externalising disorders involves disruptive behaviours (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). For an example,

A commonly used diagnostic interview for the assessment of SAD is the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-Revised (SCARED-R). The SCARED-R contains 66-items measuring all DSM-IV anxiety disorders occurring in children and adolescents, including 8-items assessing SAD specifically (Ehrenreich, Santucci, Weiner, 2009).

Anxiety disorders involve fears that are uncontrollable, unreasonable to the actual danger the person might be in, and interferes with their ordinary life. Symptoms associated with anxiety involve jumpiness, nervousness, trembling, hyperactivity, and agitation. Anxiety causes distress and as a result can intensify symptoms of ASD and cause behavioral difficulties including tantrums, aggression and self-injury. Not all children with ASD will develop anxiety, therefore there are potential benefits of understanding the mechanisms whereby anxiety develops and of identifying which young people are most vulnerable (Conner, C., Maddox, B., & White, S.,

Social Phobia, also called social anxiety disorder (SAD), is one of the most common, but misconstrued mental health problems in society. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), over 15 million adults suffer from the disorder. First appearing in the DSM-III as Social Phobia, and later in the DSM-IV as Social Anxiety Disorder, this newly established disorder denotes afflicting stress and anxiety associated with social situations (Zakri 677). According to James W. Jefferson, two forms of Social phobia exist: specific and generalized. Specific social phobia indicates anxiety limited to few performance situations, while generalized indicates anxiety in all social situations (Jefferson). Many people often interchangeably link this disorder to shyness––a personality trait. However, although they have striking similarities, the two are divergent. To begin with, SAD has an extensive etiology ranging from multiple factors. Furthermore, symptoms of various aspects accompany SAD. Moreover, SAD has detrimental impacts affecting quality of life. Lastly, SAD has numerous methods of treatment. Social Phobia is prevalent in both women and men beginning at the onset of puberty (ADAA).

Childhood anxiety is quickly becoming the most challenging of all childhood problems. As the root of most problems, anxiety covers a long range of stressors that spread quickly if not treated or relieved early in life. Anxious feelings in children varies from children of all backgrounds. All people feel anxious at one point or another, and it is only when children are affected daily and unable to be calmed when people should become concerned. Many times, children are feeling overwhelmed and cannot express themselves or struggle to understand his/her feelings. Social and emotional development then plays a big part when facing concerns like anxiety in a young childhood environment. Teachers and caregivers need to take a step back and focus on what the child needs rather than what he/she can do to make children calm down. Through interventions, patience, and caring teachers, a young child does not need to be known as "The Child Who is Anxious", he/she can just be a child.

Anxiety amongst patients scheduled to experience different surgical methods has been an issue of concern for health specialists and patients (Alanazi et al. 2014).

Social Anxiety Disorder or social phobia, is the third largest mental health care problem in the world. (Stein, 2010) National statistical surveys carried out in 2002 in the United Kingdom suggest that the prevalence rates for social phobias among young people in the UK were around 4%. (National Statistics, 2002)

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health illness that affect children and the amount of children affected by this mental illness has increased considerably in the past century. However, the amount of children that actually get treatment is drastically low, leaving children to deal with their fears and worries by themselves. The children who deal with anxiety are overcome with fear and worry and are constantly dismissed as acting out for attention because people are unaware of how serious anxiety can affect children. Anxiety plagues children and can affect them for their entire life if not treated. In order to make sure these suffering children get the care they need, there needs to be more emphasis on anxiety disorders. Childhood anxiety disorders affect the child and the people involved in the child’s life, yet there is not enough treatment or awareness in today’s society.

The current diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder can be found in the DSM-5. The criteria are split into ten different diagnostic features (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The first diagnostic feature is one or more situations where fear or anxiety occurs due to possible negative evaluation received from others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The second feature is the fear is of negative evaluation such as humiliation (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The third feature is that social settings continually cause this anxiety or fear (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The fourth feature is the avoidance of social settings or large amounts of anxiety or fear when experiencing social settings (American

Childhood anxiety is a topic that various psychologist have dissected in recent years. The reason for its popularity is the wide assortment of variables that contribute to the development of childhood anxiety and the developmental impact it has on children. The most explored variables, that can be predictors of childhood anxiety, are parental factors. These factors include genetic, cognitive, and behavioral influences. Within the last decade, researchers have looked at a combination of these factors in tandem, instead of as separate entities. Cognitive and behavioral variables are grouped together to form an anxiety parenting style. Anxious parenting styles, utilized with or without a clinical diagnosis, have a detrimental effect on

As the semester went on, I felt like I have expanded my knowledge on disorders, diseases, symptoms and formations of these disorders/diseases. After searching and deciding the empirical article named ‘Psychometric Properties of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): A Replication Study’ researched by Boris Birmaher in 1999 was a topic I wanted to further explore. SCARED is a child self-report instrument developed as a screening tool for children who have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Birmaher was aware that children who have anxiety disorders are often misdiagnosed due to the comorbidity of other psychiatric disorders (e.g. major depression and bipolar disorder.) When children are misdiagnosed and not properly treated for their anxiety disorder they develop other psychosocial disorders (e.g. depression and substance abuse), which continue into adulthood.

Adolescence is a difficult time period in a young person’s transition into their later stage of both physical and mental development. Mood disorders are often overlooked during this time for the brain becoming more developed; however among children, anxiety disorders seem to be the most common disorders to be experienced (Nelson; Israel, pg 112). Barlow (2002) defines anxiety as a future-oriented emotion that is characterized by the inability to be in control and predict future events that can be potentially dangerous to the individual. Anxiety shares commonalities with fear, but the difference between the two being that fear is the initial response made from a present threat, where anxiety is due to a unknown future event. A common