week 11 response 1 and 2
Response 1 o Rebe
Initial Post: on question 1. How do parents play a role in the development of anxiety in their children? If you, as a provider, were working with parents, how might you help them avoid this?
Group two, thanks for posting such a great question. Understanding the family and the family dynamic demonstrates your holistic approach to care and the realization of the impact that parents and parenting styles have on children. The following covers genetic, environmental, and parenting styles that should be considered.
According to Gottschalk and Domschke (2018), approximately 30-40% of anxiety disorders can be attributed to biological or genetic markers. For parents, identifying if the child has tendencies to be anxious, early recognition, and parenting in such a way as to assist the child in developing coping skills are critical. In parenting classes that I teach, a parent is educated on their own and their children’s temperate. Recognizing levels of sensitivity to stimuli and stress is factored into one’s response as the nervous system is more easily aroused. Also, the frequency, intensity, and duration of stimuli should be considered and discussed with parents. For example, an extra-sensitive child may react more stronger to a stressor than a child who is more laid back in their demeanor. There is also consideration of one’s personality traits of neuroticism, which is a personality characteristic that reflects a tendency toward negatively interpreting environmental cues and greater reactivity to those cues. Thus, a person with high neuroticism may be more sensitive to stress and how it impacts them—recognizing each parent’s tendencies of personality traits and ones in their child assists in creating a parenting structure that will benefit their child. This information comes from a curriculum called “Goodness of fit” that covers temperament and personality-I use it with all my parents. Nevertheless, training a parent to be cognizant of themselves assists the parent with being a “present parent” and is one way to assist one in their parenting journey.
Numerous environmental factors may influence anxiety in children. There are a variety of environmental factors that can increase the likelihood of anxiety. For example, a person’s family composition, cultural and religious upbringing, and many other childhood experiences can influence anxiety levels (Reisner et al., 2016). There are also factors such as gender, gender identity, race, and substance use that may have an influence (Telman et al., 2018). When working with families, offering education and support on topics such as drug use/abuse, gun safety, and other topics to create a safe environment may be beneficial. Finally, the parent’s level of mental well-being should be considered. A child whose parents struggle with anxiety is seven times more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety than a child whose parents do not suffer from anxiety (Garica & O’Neil, 2021). Again, one recognizes the importance of assisting, treating, and training the parent will, in turn, impact the child.
A study of twins found a connection between anxiety disorders from the parent to the child, which may suggest that parental anxiety shapes the parenting style that contributes to the development of anxiety disorders in their children (Eley et al., 2015). There are several different classifications of parenting styles. This post covers the four parenting styles developed by Baumrind (1971), with the categories being authoritarian (low warmth and high control), authoritative (high warmth and high control), and permissive (high warmth and low control) and the rejecting-neglectful style (low warmth and low control). Of these, authoritarian parenting tends to limit a child’s autonomy and could maintain their inhibition and anxiety. High levels of parental over-control, characterized by excessive monitoring, discouragement of autonomy and high levels of intrusion, is the most consistent parental rearing predictor of childhood anxiety (Garcia & O’Neil, 2021). Children’s anxious behavior could also evoke parents’ over-controlling parenting behavior to prevent distress in their children. In addition, parents’ anxious behavior and expressed anxiety could also promote and maintain child anxiety through modeling, i.e., catastrophizing and over-attribution of threat. Educating parents on authoritative parenting may offer a more balanced approach in which parents expect kids to meet certain behavioral standards but also encourage their children to think for themselves, develop a sense of autonomy and, in turn, decrease anxiety.
Several factors can be considered when working with families and treating anxiety. In closing, genetic, environmental, and parenting factors should be factored into children’s development of anxiety disorders.
Response 2
Hi Group 2,Thanks for sharing on such an important topic.
The purpose of this post is to discuss the benefits of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders in children.
Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents (Leonte et al., 2022). Anxiety disorders in the pediatric population can lead to significant impairment of functioning in multiple areas including school, social life, and self-esteem (Stoll et al., 2020). Additionally, Stoll et al. (2020) reports that untreated anxiety disorders in children and adolescents can lead to other issue such as depression, substance misuse, and suicidal ideation in adulthood.Similarly to adults, first line pharmacological treatment for the pediatric population is SSRIs (Leonte et al., 2022). Sertraline, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine and paroxetine have all been shown to be effective for pediatric anxiety. Additionally, SNRIs such as venlafaxine have shown to be efficacious, though are usually second line treatment as they may yield a higher side effect profile (Leonte et al., 2022). Benzodiazepines are rarely used in the pediatric population.In regards to non-pharmacological treatments, mainstay therapy includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (Leonte et al., 2022). This can include incorporating elements of CBT, as well as family therapy, in vivo exposure, and behavior therapy (Stoll et al., 2020). Additionally, skills training for both parents and children may be beneficial. Other complementary therapies that may be beneficial are interventions such as yoga (James-Palmer et al., 2020).Finally, it may be beneficial to combine both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for improved outcomes in the pediatric population.
