Language Strategies to Reduce Anxiety of At-risk Children Deprived of Parental Care

Abstract

The present study examines language impact on anxiety in at-risk children deprived of parental care. Bulgarianchildren without parents (n=40) divided into 3 age groups (aged 7-10; aged 11-14; and aged 15-17) embedintervention accomplished by four volunteers using four interaction strategies: normal voice and positive language;high tone and positive language; normal tone and negative language, and high tone and negative language.Surveillance has been conducted subjecting anxiety reactions of children measured in 10 indicators: diffidence,dependence, dissatisfaction, reliance, insecurity (for self-assessment anxiety); inadequacy, inactivity,non-communication, inability to seek help, and lack of empathy (for interpersonal anxiety). The present study resultsdemonstrate that linguistic signs have higher influence than paralinguistic cues on children’s behaviour and the useof negative language would increase anxiety in children to a greater extent when the tone is normal while raising thetone would enhance self-assessment and interpersonal anxiety of children with emotional disorders. Balanced use ofnegative and positive language combination with a different tone in different situations would increase socialfunctioning of the child. The use of different strategies for interaction by specialists – with normal and high tone,encouragement or reprimand should be tailored to the specifics of the child as well as to the relevant skills to bedeveloped.