Anxiety Disorder In Children

An anxiety disorder is a condition that causes an individual to feel frightened, distressed and experience negative affect for no valid or apparent reason. Anxiety disorders cause significant discomfort and interfere with normal functioning that can cause long-term impairment in both children and adults. The disorder emerges relatively early and the median age for onset of anxiety is as early as 11 years of age (Kessler et. al, 2005). Childhood anxiety disorders are highly heritable and childhood anxiety has been continuously linked to anxiety in parents. Studies have found that when compared to children of non-anxious parents, children with anxious parents were more likely to display undifferentiated anxious emotions (Beidel & Turner, 1997;