Chapter 5 - Maintaining Factors

Abstract

This chapter focuses on aberrant cognitive processes that play a role in the maintenance of childhood anxiety disorders. An information-processing approach is adopted, and various anxiety-related biases and distortions that occur during various stages of cognitive processing are discussed. The faulty and negative ways of thinking of children and adolescents with anxiety problems are also included in the discussion. When studying such negative and faulty thinking, it is important to note that some of these thinking patterns are relevant for a broad range of anxiety disorders, whereas other patterns are rather specific for one particular type of anxiety problem. Once children and adolescents have developed an anxiety disorder, this condition is likely to be maintained and intensified by a variety of influences. For example, the role played by avoidance behavior in the maintenance of childhood phobias and anxiety disorders. Besides avoidance behavior, there are also a number of cognitive distortions that promote continuation of these psychopathological problems. Cognitive distortions refer to cognitive processes that are biased and erroneous, and therefore, yield dysfunctional and maladaptive thoughts and behaviors.