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Family treatment of childhood anxiety
Author(s) -
Maid Rachel,
Smokowski Paul,
Bacallao Martica
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2008.00574.x
Subject(s) - dysfunctional family , anxiety , psychological intervention , psychology , intervention (counseling) , experiential learning , clinical psychology , experiential avoidance , psychotherapist , cognition , developmental psychology , psychiatry , mathematics education
Anxiety in childhood and adolescence can cause serious impairment across many settings in a child's life. Childhood anxiety may be impacted by parent‐child attachment and by three specific parenting characteristics: acceptance, control and modelling of anxious behaviours. We review two evidence‐based family interventions for childhood and adolescent anxiety problems. Cognitive behavioural treatment is currently the most commonly used form of psychotherapy to treat specific anxieties. Global or diffuse anxiety, however, may be better suited to experiential interventions such as communications approaches to family treatment. Experiential therapists examine how dysfunctional family roles exacerbate childhood anxiety. These intervention techniques and their implications for social work practice were discussed.