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'Is Anxiety Inherited'? A Research On The Problem And Its Outcome Seen On Children And Mom & Dad
It is a known information for number of years that anxious mom and dad can pass anxiety issues on to their children. Although this fact is well known, nobody is prepared to say yes to this query 'is anxiety inherited'?.
But now, a new study by the scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Centre, came up with the result that a family-based program where parents and children are being treated jointly, can decrease the symptoms and possibilities of anxiety amongst those children.
Everyone can get nervous from time to time, but when the disaster starts taking over someone's life, the condition is then known as anxiety disorder. It can be exceedingly stressful and inhibit people from living their lives fully. Some individuals with anxiety problem may also have phobias and develop panic attacks.
For the research purposes, the Hopkins investigators looked at 40 kids with the ages between 7 and 12 years. The children weren't identified with anxiety problem themselves but they all had minimum one parent who was identified with the condition. What other proof do we truly need to answer the question 'is anxiety inherited'.
Researchers randomly split the participants into two groups, with twenty of the kids and their families taking part in an eight-week cognitive behavioral therapy program, while the another twenty were put on a waiting list and didn't receive any treatment during the period of the research, but were offered therapy one year later.
The CBT program, which consisted of one-hour-long weekly sessions, was focusing on a development of problem-solving skills, training about anxiety problem, and aided parents identify and change behaviours alleged to contribute to anxiety in the kids.
The chief researcher of the research, 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 according to the records collected by the experts, the children of parents with an anxiety disorder are up to 7 times more more likely to develop the disorder themselves, and up to 65 per cent of children who live with an anxious parent meet the criteria for anxiety problem.
The results of the trial revealed that within a period of twelve months, 30 per cent of the children who didn't participate in the program, had developed an anxiety disorder, in comparison with none of the kids who were enrolled in the family based therapy. A 40 per cent reduction in anxiety symptoms in the year after the therapy program were independently reported by parents along with investigators who analyzed the behaviour of the children 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 danger 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 is of a primary importance, since anxiety issues affect one in every 5 children in the United States, but very often are left unrecognized. If not addressed in time, the problem can lead to depression, substance abuse and poor academic performance during childhood years and way into adulthood.
Results of the study will be available in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. The study was funded by the US government's National Institute of Mental Health. So 'is anxiety inherited', yes. Can we change the pattern of behaviour yes!
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