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There have been surprisingly few outcome studies for the treatment of broad-based anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Two recent studies have demonstrated excellent results using 12 to 16 sessions of individual treatment. In the current study, similar results were achieved with a nine-session program conducted in groups of around five families. Treated children improved significantly more on several measures of anxiety than did waiting-list controls. The improvements maintained and, in several cases increased, at 1-year follow-up. Examination of several potential predictors of treatment response and maintenance indicated few influential factors.pidemiological studies have demonstrated that anxiety

Fearful temperaments have been identified as a major risk factor for anxiety disorders. However, descriptions of fearful temperament and several forms of anxiety disorder show strong similarities. This raises the question whether these terms may simply refer to different aspects of the same underlying construct. The current review examines evidence for the overlap and distinction between these constructs. Although strong conclusions cannot be drawn from the extant literature, the bulk of the evidence appears to support a distinction between them.

A greater understanding of the origins of social phobia is much needed. The research to date is limited by the relatively small number of studies that sample clinical populations of individuals with social phobia. There is, however, research derived from related areas such as shyness, social anxiety, self-consciousness, peer neglect, and social withdrawal that contributes to a richer understanding of the etiology of social fears. Combining these areas of research, this review addresses four main factors that may be important to the origins of social phobia: (a) genetic factors; (b) family factors; (c) other environmental factors; and (d) developmental factors.

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Observed 57 children (37 anxiety-disordered and 20 non-clinic-referred children) and their siblings interacting with their parents while completing a complex puzzle task. Consistent with previous findings, mothers were more involved and more intrusive during the task with their anxiety-disordered child than mothers of non-clinic-referred children. Mothers in the clinic-referred group were also significantly more involved and more intrusive during interactions with the anxious child's sibling than mothers of non-clinic-referred children. Although fathers were more involved during the task than mothers overall, no significant differences in overinvolvement were found between fathers of anxiety-disordered children and fathers of non-clinic-referred children. Both mothers and fathers were equally involved with the anxious child and the sibling of the anxious child. Although this study provides support for the association between maternal overinvolvement and the anxiety disorders, it suggests that overinvolvement does not occur exclusively in the context of relationships with the anxiety-disordered child.

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