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Anxiety

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Medical and Mental Health During Childhood

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Child and Family Studies ((SSCFS))

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Abstract

Anxiety is a common problem in childhood. Anxiety occurs when children experience repetitive worry and fears about different issues. Anxiety can be focused, such as in a specific phobia or fear, or general in nature, such that the child is described as, “constantly worrying.” Anxiety tends to run in families, and if a child is anxious there also may be a parent or another close family member who is experiencing anxiety. Teaching a child to reset his or her system, through relaxation (breathing, muscle relaxation) or positive thoughts are behavioral and cognitive strategies to help the child reset his or her system. Another important strategy is to teach the child to experience those things that are causing him or her fear. Avoiding a feared stimulus can actually cause the child’s anxiety to strengthen in intensity, resulting in more avoidance behavior, worry, and fear in the future. Several interventions to provide education about anxiety and intervene to help children reduce anxiety are presented in this chapter, and many of these have resulted in very successful outcomes in terms of reducing children’s experiences of anxiety.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Human Services, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Laura Nabors

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  1. Laura Nabors
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Nabors, L. (2016). Anxiety. In: Medical and Mental Health During Childhood. Springer Series on Child and Family Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31117-3_7

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