MB

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.