Current epidemiological data suggest that anxiety disorders are the most common type of childhood psychological disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, is described by excessive worry about a variety of events, including past, present, and future ones. Children with this disorder worry excessively about a variety of issues, including past conversations or actions, upcoming events, school, family health, their own health, athletic or academic competence, and world events. Typically, children who experience such excessive worry find it difficult to control the amount of time they worry, and the worry interferes with their daily lives. Sometimes children don't realize that their anxiety is excessive considering the situation. Worries, doubts and fears are a normal part of life. It's natural to feel anxious about an upcoming test or worry about future plans after you graduate from high school. The difference between “normal” worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is that the worry involved in GAD is that the student may have excessive, persistent, or debilitating thoughts. For most children, anxiety is common and can be a functional, everyday part of life. But for some children in our schools, anxiety can be intense and cause significant disruptions in normal social and academic development (Storch 2005). The difference between normal age-appropriate worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder lies in the child's symptoms and behavior. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) Generalized Anxiety Disorder is characterized as follows: A. Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectancy), occurring repeatedly for at least 6 months, regarding a series of events or activities (on...... middle of paper ...... New York: Guilford Press.Layne, A., Bernstein, G., Bernat, D., & Victor, A. (2009) Anxiety Disorder generalized in a nonclinical sample of children: Symptom presentation and predictors of impairment, 23 (2), 283-289. Piacentini, J., & Roblek, T. (2002) Recognition and treatment of childhood anxiety disorders, 176. (3), 149-149-51. /search.proquest.com/docview/200478835?accountid=12832Promising Practices Network |. Coping Cat. (n.d.). programid=153Storch, EA (2005 THIS ISSUE: Childhood Anxiety Disorders, 34(2), 78-78,80-81 .proquest.com/docview/217546002?accountid=12832