An examination of treatment completers and non-completers at a child and adolescent community mental health clinic.

This study examined sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of treatment completers (N = 114) and non-completers (N = 136) at a child and adolescent community mental health clinic. Results indicated that children who completed treatment significantly differ from those who prematurely drop out of treatment. Non-completers presented with considerably more impairment in functioning and psychiatric symptoms, and their caregiver reported experiencing significantly more parenting stress and depressive symptoms.

Hurricane Katrina and youth anxiety: the role of perceived attachment beliefs and parenting behaviors.

This study sought to examine the role of attachment beliefs and parenting behaviors on youth's anxious response to disaster by testing a theoretical model which posits youths' perceptions of attachment beliefs and parenting behaviors as moderators of the relation between pre and post disaster anxiety symptoms. Seventy-four youth (ages 6-17 years) and their parents exposed to Hurricane Katrina participated in pre and post disaster assessments. Results indicated that both youths' pre disaster perceived attachment beliefs (i.

Sleep problems and their relation to cognitive factors, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents.

Background: Existing research indicates sleep problems to be prevalent in youth with internalizing disorders. However, childhood sleep problems are common in the general population and few data are available examining unique relationships between sleep, specific types of anxiety and depressive symptoms among non-clinical samples of children and adolescents.

Methods: The presence of sleep problems was examined among a community sample of children and adolescents (N=175) in association with anxiety and depressive symptoms, age, and gender.

Social support, discrimination, and coping as predictors of posttraumatic stress reactions in youth survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

This study examined the influence of aspects of the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery environment (i.e., discrimination, social support) and coping behaviors on children's posttraumatic stress reactions (symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety, and depression).

The psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina: contextual differences in psychological symptoms, social support, and discrimination.

This study tested a contextual model of disaster reaction by examining regional differences in the psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina. A total of 386 individuals participated in this study. All were recruited in the primary areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and included residents of metropolitan New Orleans (Orleans Parish, Louisiana), Greater New Orleans (i.

Cognitive errors, anxiety sensitivity, and anxiety control beliefs: their unique and specific associations with childhood anxiety symptoms.

This study examined the interrelations among negative cognitive errors, anxiety sensitivity, and anxiety control beliefs and explored their unique and specific associations with anxiety symptoms in a community sample of youth. Existing research has suggested that these constructs are related to childhood anxiety disorder symptoms; however, additional research is needed to test the interrelations among negative cognitive errors, anxiety sensitivity, and anxiety control beliefs and to determine if they show unique and specific associations with anxiety symptoms. The results of this study indicated that negative cognitive errors, anxiety sensitivity, and anxiety control beliefs were associated with each other and that they demonstrated unique concurrent associations with childhood anxiety disorder symptoms.

Predisaster trait anxiety and negative affect predict posttraumatic stress in youths after hurricane Katrina.

On the basis of theory and previous research, it was hypothesized that predisaster child trait anxiety would predict disaster-related posttraumatic stress symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, even after controlling for the number of hurricane exposure events. Results support this hypothesis and further indicate that predisaster negative affect predicted disaster-related posttraumatic stress symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. Also, Katrina-related posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were predicted by the number of hurricane exposure events and sex (being female).

Physiological response and childhood anxiety: association with symptoms of anxiety disorders and cognitive bias.

This study examined the physiological response (skin conductance and heart rate [HR]) of youth exposed to a mildly phobic stimulus (video of a large dog) and its relation to child- and parent-reported anxiety symptoms and cognitive bias in a community-recruited sample of youth (n = 49). The results of this study indicated that HR and skin-conductance response were associated with youth report but not parent report of their child's symptoms of anxiety disorders and that HR response was more strongly associated with anxiety symptoms than skin-conductance response. Physiological response was uniquely associated with youth-reported symptoms of anxiety rather than youth-reported depression.

Developmental differences in the expression of childhood anxiety symptoms and fears.

Objective: To examine age differences in the expression of childhood fears and anxiety symptoms.

Method: A cross-sectional design was used to test recently formulated developmental hypotheses regarding the differential expression of childhood anxiety symptoms and fears in a community sample of youths (N = 145). Three groups of youths were compared: children aged 6-9 years (n = 47), preteens aged 10-13 years (n = 52), and adolescents aged 14-17 years (n = 46).

A cross-sectional evaluation of the factorial invariance of anxiety sensitivity in adolescents and young adults.

This study examined the cross-sectional factorial invariance of anxiety sensitivity in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents (n = 173; mean age 15.5 years) and young adults (n = 291; mean age 20.1 years).