Anxiety Disorders in Early Childhood

Childhood and adolescence are the most vulnerable years for the onset of anxiety symptoms and syndromes, which can range from minor annoyances to full-blown anxiety disorders. From a research standpoint, challenges include determining its prevalence and patterns of incidence through a reliable and clinically valid assessment, as well as longitudinal characterization of its natural course to better understand which characteristics are strong predictors of more malignant courses and which are more likely to be associated with benign patterns of course and outcome.