Parent Anxiety Can Affect Children

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Living with a psychological condition not only affects the daily life of an adult, but impacts the lives of everyone in the family - including the children. Just as parents pass down genetic traits to their children, it is also possible to pass down disorders and like behavior.

Passing it On

As children grow they learn from their parents and caretakers their methods of coping with life's challenges, even those that are unfavorable. Parents who suffer from anxiety disorders experience, react to and associate everyday life with danger - in the absence of any real threat. Living in an environment with chronically anxious parents can put children at greater risk of developing the same anxieties through parental modeling. In fact, children who are raised in a household with parents suffering from an anxiety disorder are seven times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder when compared to households without diagnosed parents. While these findings raise concerns for the children as well as the parents, new studies indicate that these disorders can be prevented through cognitive behavioral therapy and a variety of other methods.

Controlling Anxiety

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology in June, 2009 by John Hopkin's Children Center, researchers found that the psychological damage brought on by childhood anxiety could be minimized or even prevented when families of anxious parents participated in weekly counseling sessions for cognitive behavioral therapy. Participants who attended sessions over the course of a year showed improvements when they modified the behaviors that were enabling their child's anxiety. The behaviors contributing to their children's anxiety included:

Over-protection.
Guilt-tripping to control the child's behavior.
Possessiveness of children.
Low expressions of affection.
Poor communication with the child.
Excessive criticism of the child's behavior.
Excessive expression of fear and anxiety.

According to the John Hopkin's study, 65 percent of children living with an anxious parent showed signs of anxiety symptoms. Additionally, one in five children in the US are affected by an anxiety disorder of some kind which often goes undiagnosed and this created problems in itself. As the condition goes undiagnosed or untreated the child is put at higher risk of developing problems with depression, poor academic performance and substance abuse. More medical professionals are now considering the children affected by parents with psychological disorders with psychological treatment. For children affected by anxiety, it is especially important that skills in coping and problem solving be taught to help them lead a more balanced, controlled life.

Living with Anxiety

There are many methods to overcoming an anxiety disorder, from medications to therapy. Some of the most common therapies include cognitive behavioral therapy, modeling therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and others. If you, someone you know or a child in your life is suffering from anxiety, please seek help from a family doctor, counselor, or other medical professional.

FREE ANXIETY AND STRESS DISORDER HELPLINE

International Paruresis Association - 1-800-247-3864

Sources: http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=13447 http://markspsychiatry.com/parents-anxiety-can-affect-children/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20299004