EBSCO-FullText-10_20_2024

Early Childhood Anxiety Disorders: Continuity & Predictors in Adolescence

Overview

• Anxiety disorders are prevalent in early childhood.

• Study followed 129 children assessed for anxiety at ages 3 and/or 6, monitoring their mental health from ages 7 to 15.

• Objective: To understand the continuity and specific predictors for anxiety disorders as children transition to adolescence.

Key Findings

• Persistence of Anxiety Disorders:

  • 50.4% of adolescents with diagnosed early childhood anxiety met criteria for anxiety between ages 7-15.

• Types of Anxiety Disorders:

  • Homotypic continuity evident for:

    • Social Anxiety Disorder

    • Separation Anxiety Disorder

    • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

  • Heterotypic continuity observed where early childhood disorders predicted different adolescent disorders (e.g., childhood GAD predicting specific phobia).

Predictors of Persistence/Recurrence

• Significant predictors included:

  • Early Childhood Persistence: Meeting anxiety criteria at both ages 3 and 6 strongly predicted later persistence of anxiety.

  • Number of Anxiety Disorders: More disorders linked to higher persistence likelihood.

  • Maternal History of Anxiety: Children with anxious mothers showed greater persistence.

  • Behavioral inhibition (BI) showed marginal significance related to anxiety persistence.

• Factors that did not predict persistence in the multivariable model included biological sex, comorbid depression, ADHD, ODD, and parenting styles.

Implications for Intervention

• Early identification and intervention for children showing continuous anxiety symptoms from early childhood can be critical in addressing long-term outcomes.

• The findings underscore the importance of monitoring anxiety symptoms beyond early childhood to inform treatment and support strategies.

• Strategies should be aimed at children whose anxiety persists into school age, suggesting a potentially chronic course.