Anxiety disorder is a difficult diagnosis. It is not caused by a microbe that can be detected in a blood test. The disease takes many forms, accompanied by other clinical symptoms. Diagnosis of anxiety of elementary school students is carried out by a complete physical examination, so that the specialist can provide psychological assistance on time and prescribe quality treatment.
Preamble
The universality of fear and anxiety in childhood is well documented in literature and reflected in folk cultures - from fairy tales to later Spielberg films.
In 1928-1929, studies and diagnostics of anxiety of elementary school students were conducted. More than 1000 children were interviewed and studied, 90% of whom had at least one specific fear. Each child at that time was from 2 to 14 years old. It is generally accepted that most children experience anxiety during normal development, which is why the focus of anxiety changes over time for better or worse. It has also been noted over all years of research into this disorder that girls are more likely to encounter it than boys. The peak of anxiety overtakes a child at 11 years old and is usually moving into a new stage.
What it is
The eternal and unbridled sensation that often arises under various circumstances is called anxiety. In certain cases, it leads to depressive disorders in which the child becomes an associative personality. Children develop various fears, developing into a mania and a real phobia, which prevents them from fully growing and living.
The purpose of this article: to briefly describe the condition of the child with this disorder, to study the methods for diagnosing anxiety in elementary school students, to get acquainted with the many ways to deal with psychological illness.
The benefits of this practice
If children persist for a long period of unexpected anxiety attacks, phobias appear, the child individually begins to avoid contact, places, specific situations, then it is time to consult a specialist for diagnosis and research. Running these symptoms is highly discouraged, because at a younger age there is a much greater chance of coping with anxiety, which at first glance may seem unjustified, causeless and not serious.
Since many of the children come to the diagnosis of anxiety in elementary school students at a late stage of the disorder, the specialist has the right to detect clinical depression in them. It is very important for parents to pay attention to the behavior of their children in order to detect the disorder in time.
Main method
Diagnosis of anxiety in primary school students is carried out using written surveys. In every educational institution (schools, lyceums, kindergartens, colleges) there must be psychologists who prepare special tests that allow you to carefully study the condition of the student. Of course, questionnaires are not a substitute for an individual examination, but they are able to detect anxiety disorder in the early stages.
As a rule, the psychologist either announces which test will be conducted, and sometimes can distribute sheets to each child in a playful way. At this point, the desire of the children to discuss issues with their neighbors at the desk cannot be encouraged, but it is important to declare that all results are anonymous and do not affect attitudes at school and grades. Tests should never scare students. In the worst case, children simply will not answer all the questions as honestly as possible.
What should be studied
Each technique for diagnosing anxiety in primary school students should show the mental state of each child studied. This includes the general emotional state of students, and social activity, and reactions to life situations, and the presence of phobias.
Why is the diagnosis of anxiety and aggressiveness of elementary school students carried out during the school hours? Because this mental disorder manifests itself in the period from 7 to 11 years. At school, the child is faced with the first difficulties, spending most of the time in the walls of the institution.
Characterization of the studied syndromes
The diagnosis of school anxiety in primary school children begins with a simple test. It allows you to determine:
- The presence of school phobias. Most children develop fears of public humiliation due to unlearned or unprepared lessons. Anxiety increases to a greater extent if an unfavorable background has formed in school and at home, which limits and stops the baby in achieving certain results, successes, awards. Hence the fear of receiving negative assessments, desires and thoughts appear to avoid public punishment and humiliation, by ignoring homework, social events. The child’s activity is reduced, there is a natural expectation of negative results of his work.
- Difficulties with self-expression. Stiffness, fear of public speaking are aggravated over time, because of which the child is simply afraid to show his abilities when standing in front of friends or strangers. The demonstration of their talents, knowledge becomes a real nightmare for the unformed psyche of the student.
- Communication problems. Surveys should show how baby is asocial. Often, children have problems communicating with their peers, the inability to establish contact and join in groups.
- Behavior. Against the background of regular stress, the diagnosis of the level of anxiety of primary school students shows how much the behavior of each child has changed. All factors affecting the destruction of the psychoemotional state affect the fitness, communicativeness, and activity of children. The child, surrounded by a negative background, is faced with low academic performance, isolation, depression, apathy and fatigue.
Reasons for the appearance
The cause of anxiety disorders has a genetic basis, but is largely modified by psychosocial experience. The type of inheritance is polygenic, but only a small number of specific genes that influence the development of abnormalities have been described and studied to date.
Anxious parents tend to have anxious children who face much worse problems than their ancestors. It is difficult for even a normal child to remain calm and collected in the presence of anxious, aggressive, depressed parents, and for those who are genetically predisposed to anxiety, it is much more difficult.
During different periods of childhood, about 10-15% of children experience anxiety disorder (for example, generalized anxiety disorder, fear of separation, social phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, specific phobias, acute and post-traumatic stress disorders). All these phenomena are accompanied by fear and anxiety, which significantly violate the child’s lifestyle.
Symptomatology
Methods for diagnosing the level of anxiety of elementary school students include a mandatory study of the general condition of children. It is important to identify symptoms in the early stages that indicate the presence of this type of disorder. Both parents and teachers can spot them and identify them using an anonymous confidential survey.
Probably the most common manifestation of anxiety disorder is the refusal to go to school. This negative attitude towards the institution is often replaced by the term “school phobia”. But real fear of school is extremely rare. Most children who refuse to attend school have separation fear, social phobia, panic disorder, or a combination thereof. Refusal to go to school is also sometimes observed in children with certain complexes or fears.
Some children complain directly about anxiety, describing it as something that haunts them. For example, “I am afraid that I will never see you again” (fear of separation), “I am afraid that children will laugh at me” (social phobias). At the same time, most children describe discomfort as somatic complaints: “I can’t go to school because my stomach hurts.” Such complaints can lead to some confusion, as the child often tells the truth. Indigestion, nausea and headache often develop in anxious children.
Additional list of symptoms
Most children suffer from complications without anxiety. Sometimes unpleasant sensations in the stomach can occur, diarrhea appears against a background of stress, insomnia or sleep disturbance. Some children have side effects in the form of behavioral changes, including agitation and disinhibition.
A.M. Parishioners: methodology
Diagnosis of anxiety in elementary school students is often carried out using a test developed by the teacher of social sciences, Anna Mikhailovna Parishioners.
- The essence of diagnosis. The tester individually interviews children who need to be examined. He shows them a presentation in the form of uncomplicated illustrations, and the child must describe what he sees in the images.
- How is the diagnosis of anxiety of elementary students from parishioners? The child is placed near the table, and then the tester gives him images so that the test taker invents stories. It is important to understand that Anna Mikhailovna picked up all the illustrations for a reason. Images, although uncomplicated, but they have enough details. The tester at the same time asks leading questions to clarify what mood the illustration conveys, sad or funny faces painted. Also, the child must choose one of the characters and come up with a story for him, based on the image and the items in it.
- Evaluation and obtaining results. A total of 10 images are given. The first illustration is intended for the child to understand the essence of this test. After 10 drawings, the tester gives the final pictures, to which the child should react positively. If the number of negative and dysfunctional answers (sad, angry, angry, sad, boring person in the men in the picture) exceeds, then the student is diagnosed with anxiety disorder.
The technique for diagnosing anxiety in younger students from Anna Parishioners really works. It allows you to determine the condition of babies in the early stages.
Methodology from R. Tammle, F. Amen and M. Dorki
Diagnosis of anxiety in elementary school students can be carried out according to another unique and effective method that was developed by three American psychologists. It is a test survey in the form of illustrations, where children should describe life situations. It is important to show each picture in strict sequence, while giving the child time to carefully examine all the pictures and talk about what is happening in them.
For example, the first test image talks about a boy and a girl who play ball. In the illustration, the girl’s face is erased, and below are two options for emotions - sadness and joy. The tester should choose one thing and then share his impressions of what he saw with the tester. At the same time, similar patterns are used for boys and girls, but the main character corresponds to the sex of the child being tested.
Benefit
In some cases, an anxiety diagnosis is carried out in primary school students for monitoring. Techniques designed to detect this disorder in the early stages allow you to create a complete picture of the emotional state of children aged 8 to 11 years. Often this allows you to understand what is happening within the walls of an educational institution.
For example, if 30 students study in one class, and 20 of them have some phobias and complexes, then a thorough check begins for the presence of an unfavorable background inside the school. It is possible that anxiety disorder occurs due to the incompetence of the teacher, because of the negative influence of children on a particular child, because of the tense situation within the family, which only worsens when the student gets into stressful situations.
Treatment
Anxiety disorders in children are treated using behavioral therapy, sometimes in combination with medication.
What is behavioral therapy? This is when a child systematically finds himself in an alarming situation, gradually changing his behavior under the influence of external factors. Such therapy allows over time to become less susceptible to dysfunctional and stressful events, and then anxiety begins to decrease.
In mild cases, usually only behavioral therapy is sufficient, but in more complex cases, medications are prescribed. Typically, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are used.
Finally
The prognosis depends on the severity, the availability of competent treatment and the child's ability to recover. In most cases, children struggle with symptoms of anxiety until they reach adulthood and longer. However, with early treatment, many children learn to control their fear. That is why it is important to diagnose anxiety in schoolchildren, starting with the lower grades.