Child Anxiety

Paper Summary:

This study utilized Rapee's (2001) model for the development of anxiety, in order to test whether there are factors, which protect children against anxiety. The study specifically suggests that anxious children should have a withdrawn and negative reactivity temperament, having experienced more negative life events than non anxious children and in response to these events, implementing an avoidant coping style. The study was conducted on 143 mother and child pairs. The study uses self-report questionnaires for both the mother and the child and the participants were instructed to complete these anonymously. The data obtained suggests that temperament is not a salient construct in regard to anxiety, with there being no significant differences in temperamental behaviour between high and low anxious children. The study also found that there was evidence of both negative life events and an avoidant coping style in highly anxious children.

From the Paper:

"Anxiety is suggested to be the most common form of psychopathology in children, affecting around 10% of the population and is often severe enough to "interfere in daily functioning" (Spence, 1998 p 545; Rapee, 2002). Due to the debilitating effects of anxiety, it is important to identify the factors, which may increase a person's vulnerability to developing an anxiety disorder."

More papers on Child Anxiety:

• Article Review # 65538 : "Children and Anxiety"
• Research Paper # 148112 : "Separation Anxiety Disorder"
• Case Study # 5933 : "The Long-term Effects of Child Abuse"

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