The Christian Broadcasting Network

Explore

Blogs

Resources

Email Updates

Latest family articles and help. Subscribe

Weekly CBN.com top stories and videos. Subscribe



anxious child
Related Links

Parents, Get Over Your Anxiety

Parent-Child Relationship Advice from the Bible

Dr. Linda Mintle's Weekly Blog: Family Matters

More Parenting articles

 
The Author

www.drlindahelps.com

 
Raising Kids Today

What Do Children Worry About?

By Dr. Linda Mintle
Family Therapist

CBN.comWhen researchers interviewed kids, here is what they found.

Researchers Silverman, LaGreca, and Wasserstein (1995) decided to study the normal worries of schoolchildren between the ages of 7 and 12 years. They interviewed 273 schoolchildren and asked them about 14 areas of worry. When a child identified a specific area of worry, the researchers asked more detailed questions.

– The average number of worries per child was 7.64 and covered a wide range of topics, but most worried about health, school and personal harm.
– The most frequent worries were about family, classmates and friends.
– The most intense worries were about war, money and disasters.
– Children’s worries related somewhat to anxiety.

Another community study (Henker, Whalen, & O’Neil, 1995) interviewed 194 children in grades four through eight to find out their worries and risk perceptions about health and the environment. These kids identified concerns about personal issues (e.g., grades), social relations, death and social issues, such as homelessness and the environment.

When you ask kids what they would like to change the most in their lives, the answer is frequently to have parents who are less stressed and tired. Children are reacting to what researchers Miller and Rahe have documented–stress has increased 45 percent over the past 30 years.

Information about normal childhood worries also helps us understand the role of worry in children developing anxiety disorders. Weems, Silverman, and La Greca (2000) took the normative data on childhood worries and compared it to anxious children referred to specialty clinics. When they did, they found that clinic kids worried about similar concerns. However, anxious kids tend to worry more often, more intensely and more of the time.

As parents, we need to seriously think of ways to decrease the stress in our homes. Kids need down time and an opportunity to practice relaxation. If you find yourselves running from event to event, it’s time to slow down and rethink priorities. Both you and your children will benefit from the changes.

More Parenting articles on CBN.com

For more stories like this one, sign up to receive Family News from CBN.com in your email every week.


Dr. Linda MintleDr. Linda Mintle is a author, professor, Approved Supervisor and Clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, as well as a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years in psychotherapy practice.

For more articles and info, visit www.drlindahelps.com.

  • Translate
  • Print Page


CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?

A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.

Do You Know Jesus
Grow In Your Faith

Need Prayer?

Call 1-800-700-7000
Email your prayer request

Email iconSign up for E-mail Updates Full List

 E-mail: