Anxiety Disorders Resource Center
Last updated April 2024
About
All children experience anxiety. Anxiety in children is expected and normal at specific times in development. For example, from approximately age 8 months through the preschool years, healthy youngsters may show intense distress (anxiety) at times of separation from their parents or other caregivers with whom they are close. Young children may have short-lived fears, (such as fear of the dark, storms, animals, or strangers). Anxious children are often overly tense or uptight. Some may seek a lot of reassurance, and their worries may interfere with activities. Parents should not discount a child's fears. Because anxious children may also be quiet, compliant and eager to please, their difficulties may be missed. Parents should be alert to the signs of severe anxiety so they can intervene early to prevent complications.
For additional information see:
AACAP Book Your Adolescent Anxiety and Avoidant Disorders
Glossary of Symptoms and Mental Illnesses
Choose a topic:
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much anxiety is "normal" for a child?
- What are the signs and symptoms of anxiety?
- What causes anxiety disorders?
- How are anxiety disorders treated?
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Treatment Resources
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) developed Anxiety Disorders: Parents’ Medication Guide. This guide is designed to help individuals make informed decisions about treating anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.
Included in this guide is new research on effective treatments for child and adolescent anxiety. The goal of the guide is to help parents make informed decisions about getting the best care for a child or adolescent with anxiety.
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Facts for Families
AACAP's Facts for Families provide concise up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families.
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Video Clips
Dr. John Walkup discusses how to help teenagers with anxiety in a 2-minute video from the Child Mind Institute
Additional Video Clips:
- What Are Appropriate Worries? - Youth Anxiety Center
- Protecting Your Child - Youth Anxiety Center
- When Anxious Children Become Anxious Adolescents
- Part-1 John Walkup, MD
Anxiety in typically and developmentally disabled children and adolescents" by John Walkup, Vice Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Director. Weill Cornell Medical College, New York Presbyterian.
- Part-2 John Walkup
nxiety in typically and developmentally disabled children and adolescents" by John Walkup, Vice Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Director. Weill Cornell Medical College, New York Presbyterian.
- Part 3 John Walkup, MD
Anxiety in typically and developmentally disabled children and adolescents" by John Walkup, Vice Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Director. Weill Cornell Medical College, New York Presbyterian.
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Clinical Resources
AACAP Clinical Practice Guidelines
Considered resources for experts, mental health professional and physicians, AACAP's AACAP Clinical Practice Guidelines were developed to guide clinical decision making. They show the best treatments and the range of treatment options available to families living with childhood and adolescent mental illness. Considered resources for experts, mental health professional and physicians, AACAP's Practice Parameters were developed to guide clinical decision making. They show the best treatments and the range of treatment options available to families living with childhood and adolescent mental illness.
Workbooks
Additional Clinical Resources
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Research and Training
Parent-based treatment as efficacious as cognitive behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety: A randomized noninferiority study of supportive parenting for anxious childhood emotions.
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:
March 2019 - Volume 58, Issue 3, pp 307-388
Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy for Anxiety and Depressive Disorders in Children and Adolescents: An Evidence-Based Medicine Review
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:
June 2015 - Volume 54 - Issue 6 - pp 454-463
A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study of Duloxetine for the Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:
April 2015 - Volume 54 - Issue 4 - pp 283-293
Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: A Review of the Past 10 Years
Journal of Amer Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Special Articles: PD onlh.
A review of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in anxiety and depression:
Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy for Anxiety and Depressive Disorders in Children and Adolescents: An Evidence-Based Medicine Review
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry:
August 2004 - Volume 43 - Issue 8 - pp 930-959
A recent important study comparing medication and CBT in treating anxiety:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Sertraline, or a Combination in Childhood Anxiety
New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 359:2753-2766 December 25, 2008 Number 26
The use of imaging Technology and Physiological Measurements to Investigate Changes in Biological Stress Systems and Brain Development in Maltreated Children with PTSD
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Books
IACAPAP Textbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health
IACAPAP
Your Adolescent - Anxiety and Avoidant Disorders
AACAP
What You Must Think of Me: A First Hand Account of One Teenager's Experience with Social Anxiety Disorder
Emily Ford
For more bibliotherapy resources, visit Living with Mental Illness: Books, Stories and Memoirs.
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Getting Help
Not all children who have experienced anxiety will need treatment. However, treatment can help minimize anxiety. To obtain help, parents should try to find a mental health professional who has advanced training and experience with evaluating and treating children, adolescents, and families. It is important to find a comfortable match between your child, your family, and the mental health professional.
A child and adolescent psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of thinking, feeling and behavior that affect children, adolescents, and their families. Child and adolescent psychiatrists have completed four years of medical school, at least three years of residency training in medicine, neurology, or general psychiatry with adults, and two years of additional training in psychiatric work with children, adolescents, and their families.
Click here to find a child and adolescent psychiatrist in your area.
Facts for Families:
Providing up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families. These fact sheets are relevant to anxiety disorders.
Related Support Group Web Sites
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Helpful Apps
Calm (Apple) | (Android)
Worry Time (Apple) | (Android)
Breathe (Apple)
Triangle of Life (Apple) | (Android)
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Podcasts
The Guide to the World of Anxiety Podcast
The Guide to the World of Anxiety with Esheeta Devang podcast is dedicated to explaining the various aspects of anxiety disorders. Episodes feature board-certified medical professionals.
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