Effect of anxiety reduction on children's school performance and social adjustment.

This study tested the effect of reductions in children's anxiety over time on improvements in school performance and social functioning in the context of participation in a cognitive-behavioral intervention program. Participants included 40 children with high anxiety (6-13 years of age). Independent evaluators, children, and parents rated child anxiety; parents rated school performance; and children and parents rated social functioning. Measures were completed at preintervention, midintervention, and postintervention. Fixed-effects regression analyses and random-effects regression analyses indicated that decreased anxiety was predictive of improved school performance and social functioning over the course of the intervention. These findings suggest that changes in anxiety influence trajectories of children's scholastic and social functioning.

[1]  M. Sigman,et al.  Family cognitive behavioral therapy for child anxiety disorders. , 2006, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[2]  Audra K. Langley,et al.  Impairment in childhood anxiety disorders: preliminary examination of the child anxiety impact scale-parent version. , 2004, Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology.

[3]  Philip C. Kendall,et al.  Group and Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Youth with Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial , 2000, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[4]  J. Parker,et al.  The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). , 2004 .

[5]  P. Cowan,et al.  What an intervention design reveals about how parents affect their children's academic achievement and behavior problems. , 2002 .

[6]  J. Borkowski,et al.  Parenting and the Child's World: Influences on Academic, Intellectual, and Social-Emotional Development. Monographs in Parenting. , 2001 .

[7]  Tx Station.  Stata Statistical Software: Release 7. , 2001 .

[8]  S. Barrett,et al.  Relationships Between School Hassles and Uplifts and Anxiety and Conduct Problems in Grades 3 and 4 , 2000 .

[9]  S. Spence,et al.  The treatment of childhood social phobia: the effectiveness of a social skills training-based, cognitive-behavioural intervention, with and without parental involvement. , 2000, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[10]  Xin Ma.  A META-ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY TOWARD MATHEMATICS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS , 1999 .

[11]  J. Stevenson-Hinde,et al.  Shyness, friendship quality, and adjustment during middle childhood. , 1999, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[12]  Michelle G. Craske,et al.  Anxiety Disorders: Psychological Approaches To Theory And Treatment , 1998 .

[13]  S. Maxwell,et al.  Reflected self-appraisals: Strength and structure of the relation of teacher, peer, and parent ratings to children's self-perceived competencies. , 1997 .

[14]  P. Kendall.  Treating anxiety disorders in children: results of a randomized clinical trial. , 1994, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[15]  Dc Washington.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. , 1994 .

[16]  T. Achenbach.  Manual for the child behavior checklist/4-18 and 1991 profile , 1991 .

[17]  D. Barlow.  Disorders of Emotions: Clarification, Elaboration, and Future Directions , 1991 .

[18]  S. Harter.  The Perceived Competence Scale for Children. , 1982 .