Separation Anxiety, Stranger Anxiety, and Dementia Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering normal separation anxiety, separation anxiety disorder, stranger anxiety, pediatric clinical management, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease based on the lecture notes.

Normal Separation Anxiety

A normal developmental stage beginning around 8 months, peaking at 10 to 18 months, and usually improving by 2 years (24 months), in which infants become upset, cry, or fuss when their primary caregiver leaves.

Object Permanence

A cognitive developmental milestone being formed during infancy where a child learns that a person or object still exists even when they cannot be seen.

Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

An anxiety disorder occurring in school-age children characterized by persistent, excessive fear or overwhelming distress regarding separation from caregivers or home that interferes with school, social life, or family functioning.

Stranger Anxiety

A normal developmental response beginning around 8 to 9 months and improving by approximately 2 years, characterized by crying, fear, or distress when an unfamiliar person approaches as the child learns to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people.

School Refusal

A common manifestation of Separation Anxiety Disorder where a child refuses to attend school; potential underlying causes include social anxiety, sensory overload, academic pressure, low self-esteem, bullying, lack of connection, general anxiety, or an unsafe/poor school climate.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for SAD

A therapeutic approach for Separation Anxiety Disorder that combines cognitive therapy (challenging anxious thoughts) with behavioral therapy (gradual exposure to slowly tolerate separation).

Play Therapy

A treatment strategy for younger children with Separation Anxiety Disorder that allows them to express fears and process separation anxiety through age-appropriate play.

Family Therapy for SAD

A therapeutic intervention designed to help parents support their child's needs and avoid reinforcing avoidance behaviors.

Dementia

A neurocognitive disorder involving dysfunction or loss of memory, language, orientation, judgment, attention, and reasoning, leading to alterations in the individual's ability to perform ADLs and fulfill social and family responsibilities.

Cognitive Domains

Six key areas of mental functioning evaluated for decline in dementia: complex attention, learning and memory, executive function, perceptual-motor, language, and social cognition.

Alzheimer's Disease

The most common form of dementia, accounting for 60% to 80% of all cases, characterized by a gradual cognitive decline, higher incidence in African Americans, Hispanics, and women, and physical changes such as breakdown of acetylcholine.

Definitive Alzheimer's Diagnosis

A conclusive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease that can only be made post-mortem via brain autopsy showing structural changes such as brain atrophy, tau accumulation, and nerve cell injury or degeneration.

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

A clinical stage marked by gradual changes in memory and thinking skills that indicate worsening cognitive function or progression beyond normal aging.

Early Warning Signs of Dementia

Ten clinical indicators of cognitive decline, including memory loss that affects job skills, difficulty performing familiar tasks, language problems, disorientation to time and place, poor or decreased judgment, abstract thinking problems, misplacing things, changes in mood or personality, and loss of initiative.