'Is Anxiety Inherited'? A Study On The Issue And Its Result Seen On Children And Dad & Mom

It is a known information for number of years that anxious mom and dad can pass anxiety problems on to their kids. Although this fact is well known, nobody is ready to say yes to this query 'is anxiety inherited'?.

But now, a new research by the scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Centre, came up with the result that a family-based program where father & mother and children are being treated jointly, can decrease the signs and dangers of anxiety amongst these children.

Each person can get nervous from time to time, but when the crisis 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. Many persons with anxiety problem may also have phobias and develop panic attacks.

For the research purposes, the Hopkins investigators looked at 40 children with the ages between 7 and 12 years. The children were not identified with anxiety problem themselves but all of them had at least one parent who was identified with the condition. What other proof do we really need to answer the question 'is anxiety inherited'.

Research workers randomly split the participants into 2 groups, with twenty of the children and their families taking part in an eight-week cognitive behavioral therapy program, while the another 20 were put on a waiting list and did not receive any treatment during the period of the study, 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, along with aided parents recognize and change behaviours alleged to contribute to anxiety in the children.

The chief researcher of the research, Dr. Golda Ginsburg, PH.D., a child 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 collected by the specialists, 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% of children who live with an anxious parent meet the criteria for anxiety disorder.

The results of the trial revealed that within a period of 12 months, 30 per cent of the kids who did not 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 decrease in anxiety symptoms in the year after the therapy program were independently reported by parents beside 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, excessive criticism and excessive expression of fear and anxiety in front of the kids. The program targeted childhood danger factors like avoiding anxiety-provoking situations and anxious thoughts.

In accordance with a recent editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine, it's deterrence and not treatment, of childhood anxiety, that's of a primary importance, as anxiety problems affect one in every 5 children in the US, but very generally 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 available 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!