Written by Consensus AI
6 min read
Are There Effective Methods to Help Parents Reduce Anxiety in Kids?
Have a question about science, health, fitness, or diet? Get cited, evidence-based insights: Consensus is an AI-Powered Academic Search Engine.
Try for freeCheck out this answer from Consensus:
Effective methods to help parents reduce anxiety in their children include parent-based treatments like SPACE, psychological interventions, online parenting programs, and relaxation techniques. While some methods show immediate benefits, others like online programs and school-based interventions offer sustained improvements. Complementary and alternative medical interventions also show potential but require further research to establish their efficacy. Overall, a combination of these approaches can provide comprehensive support for managing childhood anxiety.
Childhood anxiety is a prevalent issue that can significantly impact a child’s development and well-being. Various methods have been explored to help parents reduce anxiety in their children, ranging from psychological interventions to online programs and relaxation techniques. This synthesis examines the effectiveness of these methods based on recent research findings.
Key Insights
- Parent-Based Treatments vs. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Parent-based treatments, such as Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), are as effective as child-focused CBT in reducing childhood anxiety. Both methods significantly reduce family accommodation and parenting stress1.
- Psychological Interventions for Parents
- Psychological interventions can temporarily reduce parental stress, though their long-term effectiveness in reducing parental anxiety and depression is inconclusive2.
- Online Parenting Programs
- Relaxation Techniques
- Techniques such as Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) and Guided Imagery (GI) can significantly reduce anxiety and improve mood in parents of children with malignancies4.
- Complementary and Alternative Medical (CAM) Interventions
- CAM interventions, including massage therapy, relaxation training, and aromatherapy, show encouraging results in reducing anxiety in parents of children with cancer, though the evidence is not strong due to methodological limitations8.
- School-Based Interventions
- School-based CBT, especially when combined with parent training, is effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in children and maintaining these improvements over a 12-month period10.
Are there effective methods to help parents reduce anxiety in kids?
Nelson Handal, MD has answered Near Certain
An expert from Dothan Behavioral Medicine Clinic in Psychiatry
Reduce their own anxiety, read “What to do when you worry too much” and “don’t feed the worry bug”.
Are there effective methods to help parents reduce anxiety in kids?
Ronald Rapee has answered Near Certain
An expert from Macquarie University in Psychology, Mental Health, Child Development
Definitely.
There are a number of scientifically demonstrated treatments that have been shown to reduce anxiety disorders in young people.
These include psychological treatments (most often what is called cognitive behaviour therapy – CBT) and medications (most often selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SSRI).
Many of the CBT programs include parents and in some cases they are run entirely through the parents (in other words, parents learn to help their own child).
More recently, some of the CBT programs are now delivered over the internet.
One example of a proven child anxiety program is our own program called, Cool Kids – https://www.mq.edu.au/about/campus-services-and-facilities/hospital-and-clinics/centre-for-emotional-health-clinic/programs-for-children-and-teenagers
Are there effective methods to help parents reduce anxiety in kids?
George Patton has answered Near Certain
An expert from Royal Children’s Hospital in Child Development, Mental Health, Public Health
Understanding that anxiety is likely to arise in the context of stress, perhaps around school work for some, around peers for others will be important. It is possible that some children will have anxieties about catching the novel coronavirus or having family members infected. So the advice to parents would be around talking with your child and also encourage them to remain actively engaged with friends and activities.
Are there effective methods to help parents reduce anxiety in kids?
Tracy Vaillancourt has answered Near Certain
An expert from University of Ottawa in Child Development, Education, Mental Health
There are many effective treatments for anxiety disorders, which include psychotherapy and medication. Caregivers should be involved in all stages of treatment.
Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is the mainstay of therapy. CBT specifically teaches kids and caregivers to recognize the thinking patterns and physical fear reactions of anxious people and how to cope and not let fear and worry take over.
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are medicines that reduce symptoms of anxiety and many studies have now shown that combining CBT with SSRIs leads to improved outcomes compared to either treatments on their own.
Tracy Vaillancourt Ph.D., Amanda Krygsman Ph.D. and Khrista Boylan M.D., Ph.D. – University of Ottawa, Canada
Are there effective methods to help parents reduce anxiety in kids?
David Cregg has answered Near Certain
An expert from Ohio State University in Psychology
There are certainly evidence-based methods for helping to cope with anxiety.
First, it should be mentioned that anxiety is not necessarily a bad thing. Experiencing anxiety is a normal part of being human, and both children and adults actually need a certain level of anxiety to thrive in life. Anxiety alerts us to potential threats or dangers, which can lead to appropriate actions to help minimize the threat. For example, imagine the high school student who is anxious about an upcoming math exam. The anxiety about not performing well may lead him or her to study hard, and this studying – fueled by a certain level of anxiety – leads the student to prepare well for the exam and thus be successful.
So not all anxiety is bad, and oftentimes anxiety is developmentally appropriate. However, anxiety can become a problem when it no longer serves an adaptive function – that is, when anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat or it becomes so intense that it interferes with our ability to perform everyday tasks. Children may become so anxious that their school performance drops, they cannot adequately function in social settings, or efforts to control anxiety take up much of their time. If anxiety reaches such a point, parents should strongly consider taking their child to a mental health professional.
The good news is there are a number of evidence-based psychotherapies and/or medications that can assist with anxiety. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is particularly powerful, and parents can find a list of evidence-based psychotherapies at this link: https://www.div12.org/diagnoses/. Parents should make sure that whatever treatment provider they have is using one of these proven methods, as that will give their child the greatest chance of success for recovery.
Have a question about science, health, fitness, or diet? Get cited, evidence-based insights: Consensus is an AI-Powered Academic Search Engine.
Try for free