Abstract
The stability of anxiety states and symptoms was assessed in a sample of 150 anxious and nonanxious children. A number of assessment methods including a semistructured interview, self-report instruments, psychophysiological measures, and parental reports were used initially and at intervals up to 6 months later. The majority of children with a diagnosed anxiety disorder at the initial assessment still manifested significant symptomatology at the 6 month follow-up. However, stability of specific anxiety symptoms when assessed by self- and parental reports was mixed. With respect to psychophysiological assessment, stability of responses was evident at 2 weeks but not after 6 months. Results are discussed in terms of the stability of diagnoses and symptomatology, and the need for thematically relevant self-reports and behavioral assessment tasks. Recommendations are made for the development of a reliable, multimethod strategy to assess the multiple domains of childhood anxiety.
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This study was supported in part by NIMH Grant MH43252.
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Beidel, D.C., Fink, C.M. & Turner, S.M. Stability of anxious symptomatology in children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 24, 257–269 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01441631
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01441631