Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents


Book Description

Although generally considered adult disorders, anxiety and depression are widespread among children and adolescents, affecting academic performance, social development, and long-term outcomes. They are also difficult to treat and, especially when they occur in tandem, tend to fly under the diagnostic radar. Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents offers a developmental psychology perspective for understanding and treating these complex disorders as they manifest in young people. Adding the school environment to well-known developmental contexts such as biology, genetics, social structures, and family, this significant volume provides a rich foundation for study and practice by analyzing the progression of pathology and the critical role of emotion regulation in anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and in combination. Accurate diagnostic techniques, appropriate intervention methods, and empirically sound prevention strategies are given accessible, clinically relevant coverage. Illustrative case examples and an appendix of forms and checklists help make the book especially useful. Featured in the text: Developmental psychopathology of anxiety, anxiety disorders, depression, and mood disorders. Differential diagnosis of the anxiety and depressive disorders. Assessment measures for specific conditions. Age-appropriate interventions for anxiety and depression, including CBT and pharmacotherapy. Multitier school-based intervention and community programs. Building resilience through prevention. Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents is an essential reference for practitioners, researchers, and graduate students in school and clinical child psychology, mental health and school counseling, family therapy, psychiatry, social work, and education.




Preventing Childhood Anxiety and Depression


Book Description

A growing number of school-aged children experience or are at risk for myriad psychological and behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression that interfere with their interpersonal relationships, school performance, and potential to become productive citizens--hence, the critical nature of early prevention and intervention in schools. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of AMISTAD, a social and emotional program focusing on the prevention of anxiety and depression of four groups of students. Eight schools from a northern city in México were randomly selected and assigned to either an intervention or monitoring condition. Sixteen teachers implemented the intervention, and 16 served as control. Participants were 1,030 fourth- and fifth-grade students (ages 9-11), including 131 children with learning disabilities (LD). Children in the intervention group received the program and learned about relaxation techniques, coping with difficulties, positive thinking, and interpersonal skills, among others. For analysis, the sample was divided into four nonoverlapping groups: children diagnosis-free for anxiety and non-LD, children at risk for anxiety and non-LD, children at risk for anxiety with LD, and children diagnosis-free for anxiety with LD. The impact of the program was evaluated immediately after the intervention and after 6 months. Results showed statistically significant improvements of small impact for the overall sample and for children diagnosis-free for anxiety and non-LD, in that those receiving the program decreased the severity of their depressive symptoms, the number of children at risk for depression decreased, and these children increased their proactive coping skills. For children already showing risk for anxiety and/or LD, the program in the current format did not produce meaningful changes. Therefore, adaptations regarding culture, mode of delivery, and content should be incorporated in order to better meet these children's needs. Finally, this study confirms the importance of prevention, as in the current study, almost 1 out of 5 children reported clinical depression, and it appears that without intervention, these symptoms will escalate over time.




The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression


Book Description

In The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression, editors David J. A. Dozois and Keith S. Dobson demonstrate that prevention efforts are warranted in addressing the two most common mental health ailments. Leading experts examine current models and practices in prevention and the empirical evidence on risk and vulnerability for anxiety and depression separately and as co-morbid disorders. Authors survey the emerging support for intervention efforts at various stages. From this comprehensive and cutting edge literature, the editors synthesize a set of innovative recommendations for theory development and research.




Anxiety in Preschool Children


Book Description

Anxiety in Preschool Children provides a comprehensive, integrated, and scientifically current resource for both clinicians and researchers who work with or encounter anxiety in preschool-aged children. With a focus on organizing and consolidating the most current research, this informative new volume offers an assortment of practical interventions and evidence-based strategies for assessment, treatment, and prevention that are tailored to preschool-aged children. This groundbreaking volume will prove to be an invaluable resource for anyone working with this unique patient population, from parents to practitioners.




Depression in Parents, Parenting, and Children


Book Description

Depression is a widespread condition affecting approximately 7.5 million parents in the U.S. each year and may be putting at least 15 million children at risk for adverse health outcomes. Based on evidentiary studies, major depression in either parent can interfere with parenting quality and increase the risk of children developing mental, behavioral and social problems. Depression in Parents, Parenting, and Children highlights disparities in the prevalence, identification, treatment, and prevention of parental depression among different sociodemographic populations. It also outlines strategies for effective intervention and identifies the need for a more interdisciplinary approach that takes biological, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social contexts into consideration. A major challenge to the effective management of parental depression is developing a treatment and prevention strategy that can be introduced within a two-generation framework, conducive for parents and their children. Thus far, both the federal and state response to the problem has been fragmented, poorly funded, and lacking proper oversight. This study examines options for widespread implementation of best practices as well as strategies that can be effective in diverse service settings for diverse populations of children and their families. The delivery of adequate screening and successful detection and treatment of a depressive illness and prevention of its effects on parenting and the health of children is a formidable challenge to modern health care systems. This study offers seven solid recommendations designed to increase awareness about and remove barriers to care for both the depressed adult and prevention of effects in the child. The report will be of particular interest to federal health officers, mental and behavioral health providers in diverse parts of health care delivery systems, health policy staff, state legislators, and the general public.




Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders


Book Description

This volume reviews the latest information about the treatment and prevention of major mental disorders that emerge during adolescence. It should be a primary resource for both clinicians and researchers, with special attention to gaps in our knowledge.




Child Anxiety Disorders


Book Description

Childhood anxiety disorders represent one of the most common psychological disorders found among the general population. They can be serious, distressful, and functionally impairing, so much so that there has been an explosion of interest in their treatment, primarily from pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral perspectives. Addressing these perspectives is the Second Edition of Child Anxiety Disorders. Beidel and Alfano pay close attention to new pharmacological and psychological interventions as well as multi-center trials that compare single and combined treatment modalities. Additionally, they include new case studies, sections on stability of childhood fears and the longitudinal course of anxiety disorders, and a new chapter on sleep and anxiety disorders. Written on the cusp of newly published information and studies, Child Anxiety Disorders is relevant, informative, and indispensible.




Aussie Optimism


Book Description




Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents


Book Description

The aim of Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents is to present a comprehensive summary of the most recent empirical findings in this area. Written by eminent researchers and clinicians from Europe and America, the book is divided into




Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents


Book Description

With anxiety at epidemic levels among our children, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents offers a contrarian yet effective approach to help children and teens push through their fears, worries, and phobias to ultimately become more resilient, independent, and happy. How do you manage a child who gets stomachaches every school morning, who refuses after-school activities, or who is trapped in the bathroom with compulsive washing? Children like these put a palpable strain on frustrated, helpless parents and teachers. And there is no escaping the problem: One in every five kids suffers from a diagnosable anxiety disorder. Unfortunately, when parents or professionals offer help in traditional ways, they unknowingly reinforce a child's worry and avoidance. From their success with hundreds of organizations, schools, and families, Reid Wilson, PhD, and Lynn Lyons, LICSW, share their unconventional approach of stepping into uncertainty in a way that is currently unfamiliar but infinitely successful. Using current research and contemporary examples, the book exposes the most common anxiety-enhancing patterns—including reassurance, accommodation, avoidance, and poor problem solving—and offers a concrete plan with 7 key principles that foster change. And, since new research reveals how anxious parents typically make for anxious children, the book offers exercises and techniques to change both the children's and the parental patterns of thinking and behaving. This book challenges our basic instincts about how to help fearful kids and will serve as the antidote for an anxious nation of kids and their parents.