Treatment of Childhood Anxiety from a Cognitive Behavioral Perspective
... ” I heard a statement recently that prompted me to chose the topic of adolescent anxiety for my paper. A therapist at my practicum site told me that “most mental health issues can be traced back to three basic issues, depression, anxiety or resentment and anger.” I have thought about this quite a bit since I heard it and apart from an Axis II type diagnosis, I believe this to be mostly true. ... Admittedly, I have struggled with bouts of anxiety myself, so this is another reason why the subject interests me. Family factors have been shown to be commonly associated with the development and maintenance of childhood anxiety; such factors include parental anxiety and depression, family conflict, marital discord, and parental reinforcement of avoidant coping strategies (Barrett, 1998). Recent research, (Barrett, 1998) focuses on the idea that children develop an anxious cognitive style while in the presence of an anxiety supporting family process. Examples would be, a child growing up in a home with constant arguing, modeling parental anxiety or observing depression or hopelessness in one or both of the parents. Also, there is evidence that suggests the etiology of childhood anxiety is supported through frequent negative feedback and over-restriction of developmentally appropriate experiences by the parents (Dadds & Barrett, 2001). If the family structure is such that it enhances avoidant responses to anxiety provoking situations; the severity of the anxiousness is increased through positive reinforcement of avoidant behaviors. Anxiety is often brought on by fear and as children develop and increase their cognitive capabilities, fear and anxiety shift from the concrete to abstract, internalized thoughts. ... As children mature, they begin to feel anxious about their own safety, the well being of their families, or being kidnapped or taken away from their homes. ... Normal childhood anxiety is differentiated by a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder if the symptoms of anxiety significantly interfere with daily activities and behavioral functioning. For example, many adolescents feel anxious in certain types of social situations like a school dance or drama production, but the child with an anxiety disorder will refuse to participate in such activities and the mere thought of attending a dance or trying out for the school play will cause them to feel over anxious and take measures to avoid these experiences. The symptoms of anxiety can be seen in three different aspects, 1) physical symptoms such as sweaty palms, shakiness or upset stomach, 2) behavioral signs such as avoidance, restlessness or becoming withdrawn, and 3) cognitive cues such as excessive worry, self-consciousness, or even panic attacks (Dadds et al. ... Anxiety disorder are conceptualized through the DSM-IVTR in the following categories: Separation Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobias, Social Phobias and Panic Disorder. Some other disorders feature heightened anxiety as criteria, but are not specific to an “anxiety” diagnosis. Some of the treatments suggested for dealing with anxious children are therapies using the social learning principles, specifically, a model that emphasizes the interaction of operant learning, conditioned responses, and attentional and other cognitive/verbal processes in maintaining problematic anxiety (Dadds, et al 2001).