Anxiety Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

Prevalence of anxiety

A

o 10 – 20% of children diagnosed with anxiety

o Girls report more stress than boys

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Name four methods of distinguishing normal from pathological

A
o	Object:  
o	Intensity: 
o	Impairment:  
	(Social functioning, Academic functioning, Family functioning)
o	Ability to Recover/Coping Skills
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q
General fears of: 
Infants
Toddlers
School age
Adolescents
A

o Infants; loud, strangers
o Toddlers; darkness, seperation
o School-age; injury, natural events, attribution bias
o Adolescents; school, social competence, health

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Confidence of predictors at age 5

A

Being confident age 5 = less likely to develop anxiety disorders
 Children who are passive, shy, fearful, and avoid new situations at 3 and 5 years = more likely to exhibit anxiety later in life

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Three most common anxiety disorders?

A

The most common anxiety disorders
• Separation Anxiety
• Generalized Anxiety
• Specific Phobias

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are the clinical presentations of anxiety?

A
o	Unable to recognize their fears as unreasonable 
o	often cannot articulate their feelings
o	often see physical symptoms 
	Headaches 
	nausea 
	increased heart rate 
	diarrhoea or constipation 
	sleep disturbance 
	colds
	appetite change 
	fatigue & exhaustion
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is separation anxiety?
What are the symptoms?
Age of development?

A

o Excessive fear when separated from home or attachment figures
o Gender ratios are generally equal
 Symptoms
• difficulty sleeping alone, nightmares
• somatic complaints
• school refusal
o earliest age of onset among anxiety disorders
 may develop after a stressor
o precursor to of adult psychiatric conditions like depression /anxiety

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are specific phobia?
Key criteria?
Age?

A

o Fear of a particular object or situation which is avoided or endured with great distress
o Avoidance is key: if it is a true phobia, will avoid at all costs
o Specific phobias often dissipate with age
 phobias that persist into adulthood remit only infrequently (20%)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is GAD?
What symptoms do children exhibit?
Lifetime?

A

o chronic, excessive worry in multiple areas with at least one associated somatic symptom (schoolwork, social interactions, family, health/safety, world events, natural disasters)
o Affected children:
 perfectionistic
 seek reassurance
 struggle is evident to parents and teachers
o Worry is not limited to a specific situation or object
o GAD often report they’ve felt anxious their entire life
 Over half presenting for treatment report onset in childhood or adolescence but after 20 is not uncommon

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is social anxiety?
What are presenting symptoms?
What could be a new type of social phobia?

A

o Feeling scared or uncomfortable in one or more social or performance situations (Fear of scrutiny, Fear of doing something embarrassing)
o Struggle to answer questions in class, reading aloud, initiate conversation, talking with unfamiliar people, and attend parties and social events
o The anxiety dissipates when away from a social situation (unlike GAD)
o 90% of children with Selective Mutism meet criteria for Social Phobia
 Selective Mutism = specific type of Social Phobia?
o Social Phobia begins in childhood and is usually both lifelong and continuous

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is panic disorder?
What are the symptoms?
Age of onset?

A

o Recurrent episodes of intense fear that occur unexpectedly
o attacks become less severe if they occur more often
o Somatic symptoms: (Heart pounding and/or racing, Sweating, Cold hands/painful extremities,Can feel so extreme that one feels (s)he is dying)
o Uncommon before puberty period

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is OCD?
What do O and C stand for?
How do symptoms change over time?

A

o Most patients experience both obsessions and compulsions
 Obsessions are intrusive, continuous, unmanageable thoughts/worries –
 Compulsions are “ritualistic” actions performed in response to obsessive thoughts
• Performing compulsive actions relieves anxiety
o Symptoms worse with stress or trauma
o Changes in symptoms and in intensity over time
o Symptoms commonly exist for years before reaching clinical attention
o Usually improves with time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Three main features of anxiety disorders?

A

o Increased behavioural inhibition (the tendency to be unusually withdrawn/timid and to show fear/withdrawal in novel/ unfamiliar social and nonsocial situations)
o Increased attention to threat
o Increased response to any arousal
 people with anxiety disorders can find anything exciting unpleasant, regardless of valence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Genetics of anxiety?

Heritability factors?

A

o No clear data support specific genes for specific anxiety disorders
o Anxiety is heritable
 Panic Disorder (48%)
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder (32%)
o Genes account for some but not all of risk increase
 Environmental factors must play a major role

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is the Reticular Activating System?

A

 network of ascending, arousal-related neural systems
 Locus coeruleus mobilizes in response to real or perceived threat –
• Dorsal raphe mediates the locus coeruleus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Serotonin and anxiety

A

 High levels of serotonin in the brain during development can lead to permanent changes in the response to stress
 Serotonin is strongly implicated in emotion
• Serotonergic drugs are often prescribed for anxiety disorders
• SSRIs are effective against panic, anxiety and depression

17
Q

When the Serotonin receptor and transporter is knocked out mice exhibit…

Carrying the short form is associated with…

A

increased fear and anxiety
• Transporter protein has Two Alleles – short and long

 Higher levels of anxiety
 Increased amgydala reactivitiy
Less habituation of amygdala response is associated with Trait Anxiety

18
Q

Three Interactions between gene and environment

A
  • People with short form are less resilient
  • Gene dosage matters (two copies worse than one)
  • Long form is “protective”?
19
Q

Where does cortisol release occur and what does it do?

A

HIppocampus during stress

results in cell death

20
Q

Where do Cognitive distortions (seeing threat where there isn’t real threat) occur?

A

o Hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex

21
Q

ASD and anxiety
Prevalence?
Which two symptoms are associated with both?

A

o Prevalence 40 –84%
 Impairments in social functioning
 Impairments in Theory of Mind
heightened “Intolerance of uncertainty” (All ambiguous stimuli interpreted as negative )
Sensory atypicalities
Presence and severity of repetitive behaviours

22
Q

Why does ASD symptom severity increase vulnerability to anxiety disorders?

A
  • Less cognitive reserve/ability to cope
  • Increased likelihood of negative response from others
  • Increased likelihood of stress and negative life events
23
Q
Anxiety and Williams
Prevalence?
Main type?
What protects against anxiety in Williams?
What does it present like?
A
o	50% 
o	Mainly specific phobia (childhood) 
o	IQ and anxiety are negatively correlated 
	Higher intelligence may be protective 
o	ASD
24
Q

Fragile X and anxiety
Anxiety is high prevalence because?
In social situations, anxiety presents like?
There is an association between anxiety and…?

A

o Anxiety is part of the diagnosis
• “ASD-like” behaviours in social situations
 Association between anxiety and repetitive behaviours

25
Q

What are some triggers to anxiety?

A

o Changes in schedule, routines
o Anticipation of upcoming events
o Sensory overload
o Worry about upcoming social situations
o Taking away or being away from a preferred interest (e.g., music)
o Not being allowed to engage in repetitive behaviors

26
Q

Name four difficulties assessing anxiety?

A

o Anxiety measures designed for typical children may not be sensitive to characteristics specific to a syndrome
o Often difficult to distinguish between core symptoms of a developmental disorder and anxiety disorders
o Can result in overdiagnosis of anxiety in children with neurodevelopmental disorders
o Can result in all symptoms of anxiety being attributed to the core syndrome and not treated