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'Is Anxiety Inherited'? A Study On The Issue And Its Result Observed On Children And Mom & Dad
It has been a known information for many years that anxious mom and dad can pass anxiety problems on to their children. Although this fact is well known, no one is prepared to say yes to this question 'is anxiety inherited'?.
But now, a new study by the scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Centre, came up with the conclusion that a family-based program where parents and children are being treated jointly, can reduce the signs or symptoms and dangers of anxiety amongst these children.
Each person can get fretful from time to time, but when the disaster starts taking over one's life, the condition is then named anxiety problem. It can be exceedingly stressful and inhibit people from living their lives fully. A lots of persons with anxiety problem may also have phobias and develop panic attacks.
For the study purposes, the Hopkins investigators looked at 40 children with the ages between 7 and 12 years. The children were not diagnosed with anxiety problem themselves but they all had minimum one parent who was diagnosed with the condition. What other proof do we really require to answer the question 'is anxiety inherited'.
Researchers randomly split the participants into 2 groups, with 20 of the kids and their families taking part in an 8-week cognitive behavioral therapy program, while the other 20 were put on a waiting list and did not receive any treatment throughout the period of the study, but were provided therapy 1 year later.
The CBT program, which consisted of one-hour-long weekly sessions, was focusing on a development of problem-solving skills, instruction about anxiety disorder, and assisted parents recognize and change behaviours alleged to contribute to anxiety in the kids.
The chief researcher of the study, Dr. Golda Ginsburg, PH.D., a kid psychologist at Hopkins Children's Centre and an associate professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said that based on the records gathered by the experts, the children of parents with an anxiety disorder are up to 7 times more likely to develop the disorder themselves, and up to 65% of kids who live with an anxious parent meet the criteria for anxiety problem.
The outcome of the trial revealed that within a period of 1 year, 30% of the kids who did not participate in the program, had developed an anxiety disorder, compared to none of the children who were enrolled in the family based therapy. A 40 per cent decrease in anxiety symptoms in the year after the therapy program were separately reported by parents together with investigators who analyzed the behaviour of the kids and their parents. There was no fall of anxiety indications observed among kids on the waiting list.
The parental behaviours adapted with therapy program included overprotection, extreme criticism and excessive expression of fear and anxiety in front of the kids. The program targeted childhood risk factors such as avoiding anxiety-provoking situations and anxious thoughts.
According to a recent editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine, it is deterrence and not treatment, of childhood anxiety, that's of a primary importance, since anxiety disorders affect one in every 5 children in the US, but very often are left unrecognized. If not addressed in time, the trouble can lead to depression, substance abuse and poor academic performance throughout childhood years and way into adulthood.
Results of the study will be published in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. The research was funded by the United States government's National Institute of Mental Health. So 'is anxiety inherited', yes. Can we change the pattern of behaviour yes!
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