Abstract
For a very long time, the relationship between anxiety and depression has been least explored until late in the nineteenth century when research in this area began. Generally, research has revealed that anxiety is closely related to other mentally related complications. The effects of anxiety in children and adolescents are detrimental both to individuals and society. It is therefore essential to detect and prevent anxiety symptoms early enough. This paper attempts to shed light on this by reviewing three scholarly articles and comparing their findings.
Handbook of depression in children and adolescents
A long time ago, both adolescents and children lived lives devoid of pain and calamity that often characterize the lives of contemporary youth (Hankin and Abela, 2007). Depression, suicidal deaths, and child abuse were not heard off by then. Until the 1970s, child sexual abuse incidences and suicidal deaths among adolescents were thought to be seldom and accidental respectively. Theories revealed that depression could not be experienced by young people and that being either sad or moody was part of marks in adolescence (Hankin and Abela, 2007).
Such assumptions are basically fantastic since millions of youth undergo depression after adolescence accompanied by several other effects that depression leads to such as self-pity, somberness, alienation, and numbness. A report from the World Health Organization has revealed that depression adversely affects not only adults but also youth (Geneva: World Health Organization, 2008, cited in Hankin and Abela, 2007). Depression is attributed to suicide, substance use, and other dangerous acts among adolescents and other youth. Unlike a long time ago when depression and its effects were least known, currently, there is increased information regarding the latest research.
This handbook unrolls the developments in current studies on depression such as treatment, prevention, suicidal aspects, and other gender-oriented aspects. The book also lays an emphasis on the numerous causes of depression including various models (Hankin and Abela, 2007). The book also contains information on not only coping and resiliency but also on other profound details. Despite all this, the book presents childhood and adolescence from one dimension. The book explains depression in alienation to other mental complications and does not at any point show either the concurrence or coexistence of depression with other mental disorders.
The chapters in the book shed light on the treatment of depression but do not reveal how the treatment of related mental disorders can be done (Hankin and Abela, 2007). Despite research on the relationship between culture and depression, the book fails to show the role played by culture in depression. The connection between race, ethnicity, and gender with depression is also scarcely addressed in the book (Hankin and Abela, 2007).
This article is scholarly because it attempts to shed light, though theoretically, on depression – a topic that most scholars have been silent on for years. It is also said to contain a summary of the current research and theory that have been done by other scholars on the subject.
Screening for Anxiety Disorders in Children
Anxiety disorders do not only affect someone’s ability to function but also the way in which they live (Bogels and Simon, 2009). In children, it makes them experience problems both in school and during other social communications. Moreover, anxiety disorders are closely related to other emotional complications and may result in either depression or substance use maladies (Bogels and Simon, 2009 ).
Their effect on both someone’s ability to function and their way of life has caused society to spend substantially on them. Studies have shown that the lifetime prevalence of anxiety complications is higher in adults than in adolescence and childhood. Most of the anxiety disorders have a tendency of beginning to affect people in their childhood and adolescence where they may tend to take a severe course. Despite the existence of better treatment for these disorders, most of the infected people take longer to seek help (Bogels and Simon, 2009).
The reluctance of infected individuals to seek help early combined with the effect of these disorders on society calls for earlier detection of children that may be infected. This detection is normally done using a screening tool such as a questionnaire and is carried out by laypeople. Screening tools are preferred due to their ability to save both time and costs“ (Bogels and Simon, 2009).The Screen for Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) “is a questionnaire preferred due to its consistency, has standard subscales and can be applied to detect numerous emotional disorders. The questionnaire comprises items that address social phobia.
This study aims at finding out the significance of screening children’s anxiety manifestations using a questionnaire (SCARED-71) in primary school. This is done in relation to a diagnostic standard, in a wider sample of children. This study, unlike the previous one that engaged only children in an interview, incorporates parents as well. This study was carried out in the Netherlands with boys, girls, and parents participating. It was concluded that girls showed higher anxiety symptoms than boys (Bogels and Simon, 2009).
Another research carried out in the absence of parents revealed more anxiety symptoms than the first case. The same was repeated through the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS). Those cases where fathers did not accompany their children were reported to have more anxiety symptoms. Results also indicate that both high and medium anxious children did not differ with respect to depression and other related emotional disorders (Bogels and Simon, 2009).
This article is scholarly because it empirically describes a screening method for measuring anxiety symptoms, gives both recorded different results, and presents a discussion of the same while giving room for further research.
CBT for 4 to 7-Year-Old Children with Anxiety
Anxiety disorders are among other disorders that affect children. If unattended in childhood, they tend to catch up with people in their puberty and adulthood stages. Studies for the Development of Childhood Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to treat anxiety disorders in children have shown that treatment can be effective when administered either at an individual or family level (Hirshfeld-Becker and Masek, 2010).
Past research on this method has not been spread out across different ages in children. However, the latest results indicate that preschool children portray anxiety symptoms almost similar to those portrayed by older children. Further research involving CBT protocols have been carried on younger children with promising results (Hirshfeld-Becker and Masek, 2010). Further studies show that the training of parents to apply CBT with their children did not provide promising results compared to when children were studied alone.
Several cases where anxiety disorders were treated to both family and individuals reveal that earlier intervention is advantageous because it equips both the parents and children with techniques of managing anxiety before the symptoms begin to affect children’s learning, self-esteem, and their interaction with others. The current study was done randomly in a clinical trial for children aged between 4-7 years from diverse places. This was carried out against monitoring – only control condition. The inclusion and exclusion of children were based on the current criteria for DSM – IV mental disorder (Hirshfeld-Becker and Masek, 2010).
The study was also preceded by consultations between clinicians and the Institution Review Board. Questionnaires, observations, and interviews were employed in this study. “The research interviews used the child version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Epidemiologic Version (K-SADS-E) for DSM–IV (Orvaschel, 1994), a widely used diagnostic instrument with established test–retest reliability and acceptable concurrent and predictive diagnostic validity (Ambrosini, 2000)”. Interviews were also carried out directly to both parents using the Structured Clinical Interview instrument. These interviews were conducted by competent psychologists and psychiatrists (Hirshfeld-Becker and Masek, 2010).
At post-treatment, mothers were interviewed about their children while children underwent B1 assessment. The CBT protocol’s main aim is not only to minimize anxiety symptoms but also to improve some ways in which parents have been said to maintain child anxiety. Although several outcome measures were used, the primary one was that children were termed as very much improved.
Results for this clinical trial that was done randomly show that CBT for parents and children that has been tailor-made to suit the needs of children aged between 4 and 7 years may minimize anxiety and improve the children’s coping skills. The shortcomings of the CBT trial are two-fold. First, the study used the monitoring – only (waist list) control condition (Hirshfeld-Becker and Masek, 2010). Secondly, there was a heavy reliance on parental input for the assessment. Other informants more acquainted with children’s behavior could have been involved (Hirshfeld-Becker and Masek, 2010).
This article is scholarly because it gives an empirical perspective regarding the prevention of anxiety symptoms in children aged between 4 and 7 years. The research has also involved health scholars: psychologists and psychiatrists. The results also reveal a reduction in the symptoms and at least objective conclusions are drawn.
The similarity between the last two articles is their practical approach in trying to detect and treat anxiety disorders. Both of them bring out the co-existence of depression with other mental disorders. Both of them use interviews and questionnaires in their approach and both report reduction in anxiety disorders after the tests. Both articles also reveal more anxiety symptoms in the absence of parents than in their presence. The difference between the two articles is that whereas the first article explains the use of SCARED screening tools to detect anxiety symptoms, the second article employs the use of CBT to treat anxiety disorders.
The contrast between the first article and the last two is that the last two embraces an empirical approach in both detecting or treating anxiety symptoms and show a relationship between depression and other mental complications. The first article lacks these two aspects.
References
Bogels, S. and Simon, E. (2009). Screening for anxiety disorders in children. (Attached Material).
Hankin, B. and Abela, J. (2007). Handbook of depression in children and adolescents. New York: Guilford press. (Attached material).
Hirshfeld-Becker, B. and Masek, D. (2010). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for 4- to 7-Year-Old Children with Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology. (Attached material).