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Severe Life Events and Chronic Adversities as Antecedents to Anxiety in Children: A Matched Control Study

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Abstract

The present study compared the number of severe life events and chronic adversities as reported retrospectively by mothers of children with an anxiety disorder (n = 39) prior to the onset of their most recent episode, with controls (n = 39) matched for age and sex. The parent version of the Psychosocial Assessment of Childhood Experiences (PACE) was used to assess chronic adversities (long-term experiences with negative impact on child) and severe life events (discrete life events with high long-term threat). A significantly greater number of severe life events and chronic adversities were assessed prior to onset for anxious children compared to controls. The finding for severe life events held regardless of whether impact ratings were assigned by mothers or a panel of independent raters, suggesting the findings reflect actual as opposed to perceived differences. Results suggest that both discrete and chronic stressors may constitute risk for future episodes of anxiety in children.

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Notes

  1. No between-subjects main effects or within-subjects interactions involving the covariate maternal relationship status were significant for any of the reported analyses, all ps > 0.614.

  2. The main analyses for severe life events and chronic adversities were repeated excluding children for whom the current episode was also their initial episode of anxiety (n = 7). The between subjects main effect of group remained significant for severe life events (p = 0.037) and chronic adversities (p = 0.006) despite the exclusion of these participants.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Alan Taylor from the Psychology Department, Macquarie University and Andrea Meyer, Institute of Psychology, University of Basel for their assistance with statistical analyses. This study was supported in part by funding from the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund. Jennifer Allen is now at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Department, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, Basel, 4055, Switzerland

    Jennifer L. Allen

  2. Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Jennifer L. Allen

  3. Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Ronald M. Rapee

  4. Department of Mental Health Sciences, Universtiy College London, London, United Kingdom

    Seija Sandberg

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  1. Jennifer L. Allen
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  2. Ronald M. Rapee
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  3. Seija Sandberg
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Correspondence to Jennifer L. Allen.

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Allen, J.L., Rapee, R.M. & Sandberg, S. Severe Life Events and Chronic Adversities as Antecedents to Anxiety in Children: A Matched Control Study. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 1047–1056 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9240-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9240-x

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