Anxiety In Preschoolers Research Articles

Factors of occurrence and development of anxiety in older preschoolers

Factors of occurrence and development of anxiety in older preschoolers

Combining child social skills training with a parent early intervention program for inhibited preschool children

BackgroundPrevious studies have demonstrated the efficacy of early intervention for anxiety in preschoolers through parent-education. The current study evaluated a six-session early intervention program for preschoolers at high risk of anxiety disorders in which a standard educational program for parents was supplemented by direct training of social skills to the children. MethodsSeventy-two children aged 3–5 years were selected based on high behavioural inhibition levels and concurrently having a parent with high emotional distress. Families were randomly assigned to either the intervention group, which consisted of six parent-education group sessions and six child social skills training sessions, or waitlist. After six months, families on waitlist were offered treatment consisting of parent-education only. ResultsRelative to waitlist, children in the combined condition showed significantly fewer clinician-rated anxiety disorders and diagnostic severity and maternal (but not paternal) reported anxiety symptoms and life interference at six months. Mothers also reported less overprotection. These gains were maintained at 12-month follow-up. Parent only education following waitlist produced similar improvements among children. Quasi-experimental comparison between combined and parent-only interventions indicated greater reductions from combined intervention according to clinician reports, but no significant differences on maternal reports. ConclusionsResults suggest that this brief early intervention program for preschoolers with both parent and child components significantly reduces risk and disorder in vulnerable children. The inclusion of a child component might have the potential to increase effects over parent-only intervention. However, future support for this conclusion through long-term, randomised controlled trials is needed.

Depression and Anxiety in Preschoolers: A Review of the Past 7 Years.

This article reviews recent empirical literature on the prevalence, correlates, assessment, and treatment of preschool-onset internalizing disorders. Major advances in the acceptance and recognition of both preschool-onset depression and anxiety have occurred over the past decade. This work has been greatly enhanced by the discovery of genetic, neural, and physiologic indicators, which further validate these constellations of symptoms in young children. Despite this growth in research, much work still needs to be done to further elucidate the cause, risk, treatment, and protective factors for preschool-onset internalizing disorders.

Stranger Fear and Early Risk for Social Anxiety in Preschoolers with Fragile X Syndrome Contrasted to Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study investigated behavioral indicators of social fear in preschool boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS) with a low degree of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms (FXS-Low; n = 29), FXS with elevated ASD symptoms (FXS-High; n = 25), idiopathic ASD (iASD; n = 11), and typical development (TD; n = 36). Gaze avoidance, escape behaviors, and facial fear during a stranger approach were coded. Boys with elevated ASD symptoms displayed more avoidant gaze, looking less at the stranger and parent than those with low ASD symptoms across etiologies. The iASD group displayed more facial fear than the other groups. Results suggest etiologically distinct behavioral patterns of social fear in preschoolers with elevated ASD symptoms.

The Association between Preoperative Parental Anxiety and Emergence Agitation in Preschoolers

Introduction: The preoperative distress and anxiety experienced by preschoolers are associated with an increased incidence of troubled recovery from anesthesia. However, influences of parental anxiety on children at different stages of the surgical processes are not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate any existing association between preoperative parental anxiety and emergence agitation in a pediatric surgery population. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 children ASA class I or II, aged 3 - 12 years old, undergoing adenotonsillectomy with sevoflurane, were included in the study. Before surgery, we used State-Trait Anxiety Inventory S-T (STAI S-T) to assess parental anxiety. Emergence agitation of the children was assessed with Watcha scale and recorded every 10 min of first 30 min of the postoperative period. Parents were contacted 24 hours after the surgery to evaluate their satisfaction, post operative pain and any side effect observed in the children. Results: Preoperatively, the mean STAI-S scores of mothers were significantly higher than those of fathers (p 0.05). The children had the highest agitation scores at 10th postoperative minutes with an incidence of 73.9%. There was no correlation between parental anxiety and emergence agitation. Logistic regression analysis showed that low educational level of the parent was the only independent factor for state anxiety (OR: 8.96, 95% CI: 1.50 - 40.35, p = 0.030). Discussion: In this study, we observed that education level of the parents might affect their preoperative anxiety. The factors influential in parental anxiety were not correlated with pediatric emergence agitation in this study.

Is emotional lability a marker for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and aggression symptoms in preschoolers?

Emotional lability (EL) is frequent in school-aged children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is associated with more frequent comorbidities and more severe impairment. However, little research has investigated the association between EL, ADHD and comorbid symptoms in preschoolers. This study assessed dimensional EL in preschoolers and its link with ADHD symptoms (e.g. hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention) and behavioural and emotional problems (e.g. aggression and anxiety). One hundred and fifty-four preschoolers aged 3-6years old were rated on questionnaires by parents. EL was assessed with the index from the Conners Rating Scale-Revised and behavioural and emotional problems with an adapted version of the Social Behavior Questionnaire. Multiple linear regressions analyses were conducted. Higher EL was associated with higher hyperactivity-impulsivity, inattention, anxiety and aggression problems. After controlling for other behavioural and emotional problems and sociodemographic variables, EL remained associated with hyperactivity-impulsivity and anxiety. Emotional lability seems to be a potential marker for ADHD symptoms with internalizing problems in preschoolers and could be a target for diagnosis and early interventions. This finding should be treated with caution as the study was limited by the low response rate of the participants and consequently the small sample size.

Recent Advances in Intervention for Early Childhood Anxiety

Anxiety disorders in older children and adolescents have long been acknowledged as impairing, persistent and predictive of future anxiety and mood-related disorders. Until recently, however, anxiety in preschoolers and younger children has been regarded as relatively uncommon and within normal developmental parameters. Increasing evidence is suggestive that symptoms of anxiety in preschoolers parallel those in older children (Hirshfeld-Becker, Micco, Mazirsky, Bruett, & Henin, 2011) with this under-investigated area attracting increasing interest from researchers and clinicians alike. The present review summarises the empirical literature on early intervention and prevention programs for anxiety in young children (aged 3–7 years) with a specific focus on the application of such programs in the school context and implications for guidance counsellors, an improved understanding of which is critical for informing effective intervention. The studies reviewed demonstrate promising outcomes for anxiety; however, there is still a significant amount of work to be done in terms of our understanding of developmentally appropriate, family-focused and child-led models of anxiety and early intervention and prevention protocols.

Co-Occurrence of ADHD and Anxiety in Preschool Children

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine co-occurrence of ADHD and anxiety in preschool children. Method: The data collection was part of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. After a screening for ADHD symptoms at 36 months, participants were clinically assessed at age 36 to 44 months. Psychiatric symptoms of ADHD and anxiety were derived from the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA) interview. Results: In preschoolers with ADHD symptoms, 33% were reported to have symptoms of anxiety. Children with symptoms of ADHD and anxiety had more severe ADHD symptomatology, and particularly more inattentive symptoms compared with children with ADHD symptoms and no anxiety. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the frequent overlap between symptoms of anxiety and ADHD in preschoolers as different intervention strategies may be required.

EARLY DETECTION OF SOCIAL ANXIETY: RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF SOCIAL ANXIETY IN YOUNG CHILDREN

Socially anxious children have been described in the literature as at risk of developing increasing emotional problems and of being deprived of valid learning experiences with peers. In order to enable teachers to detect social anxiety in preschoolers the authors developed a scale. The TRSA-“junior” (Teacher Rating Scale of Social Anxiety-“junior”) is a brief Likert-type questionnaire for the identification of social anxiety in 5-to 6-year-old children. Reliability (internal consistency plus test-retest correlation) collected in 2 samples was high. Convergent and divergent validity of this newly developed rating-scale were also studied. A high level of social anxiety correlated with a low level of social participation, as observed on the playground. The TRSA-“junior” score correlated with “internalizing” as measured by the Behavior Questionnaire for Toddlers and Preschoolers (BQTP) and the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL), and with the subscales “anxious-depressed”, “thought problems”, “social problems” and “withdrawn behavior” of the CBCL. In the second study a high score on social anxiety appeared to be related to less positive sociometric judgments by peers. The authors conclude that the TRSA-“junior” may aid in the identification and prevention of social anxiety at an early age. In addition, the scale would appear to be a useful instrument in research, given its sound psychometric qualities.