Chapter 10

The focus of this chapter will be on the most common anxieties and phobias displayed by young children, such as separation anxiety or fear of new places or people. Strategies such as systematic desensitization, graduated exposure, association of fearful situations/people with preferred items/situations will be described.

  • Describe some of the most common anxieties and phobias displayed by young children.
  • Discuss methods for assessing for the presence and severity of anxieties and phobias.
  • Describe in detail a strategy for treating anxiety or phobia in young children.
  1. Anxiety
    This is a fear that may be expressed by intense avoidance, increased heart rate, increased perspiration, increased respiration, increased adrenaline, excitability, etc. It creates a bodily response known as “fight or flight.”
  2. Regulated breathing
    This focuses on taking in air and releasing the air in a slow, regulated pattern.
  3. Muscle relaxation
    This involves tightening certain groups of muscles for a short time and then releasing the muscles.
  4. Systematic desensitization
    This technique incorporates some muscle relaxation and repeated exposure to situations or items that caused fear in an attempt to alleviate the fear.
  5. Participant modeling
    This involves having a person with a phobia watch someone else engage with the feared object while not demonstrating any fear.

 

www.anxietybc.com/sites/default/files/MuscleRelaxation.pdf

http://panicdisorder.about.com/od/treatments/a/SystemDesen.htm

http://psychcentral.com/lib/in-depth-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/

Allen, K. D., & Wallace, D. P. (2013). Effectiveness of using noncontingent escape for general behavior management in a pediatric dental clinic. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46, 723–737.

Bowman, L. G., Hardesty, S. L., & Mendres‐Smith, A. E. (2013). A functional analysis of crying. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46, 317–321.

Neufeld, V., Law, K. C., & Lucyshyn, J. M. (2014). Integrating best practices in positive behavior support and clinical psychology for a child with autism and anxiety-related problem behavior: A clinical case study. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 29(3), 258–276.

This chapter has described some of the most common anxieties and phobias that may be displayed by young children. While anxiety is a normal part of development and can occur frequently among young children, it can become severe and result in detriments to how a child functions in their environment. Parents and teachers may help a young child with anxieties by being aware of how a child behaves when the child is anxious and being able to collect data on the occurrence of anxiety. While more research is needed to determine the most appropriate practices for treating anxiety and phobias among young children, some strategies such as reinforced practice and participant modeling were described and may have potential for addressing such fears in this population.