Worry in Children

Abstract

Worry in adults has been conceptualized as a thinking process involving problem-solving attempts about anticipated negative outcomes. This process is related to, though distinct from, fear. Previous research suggested that compared to adults, children's experience of worry is less strongly associated with thinking and more closely related to fear. The present study further explored children's worrying. Ninety-three 7-to 12-yearolds rated how much they worry, fear and think about the same list of negative outcomes, and reported on their positive beliefs about worrying. Children associated worrying more strongly with fear than with thinking. However, this relationship was moderated by age. Older children reported that worry was more closely related to thinking and less closely related to fear. Furthermore, children who reported more thinking, rather than fear, about negative outcomes were also more likely to report that worrying had beneficial effects. Results suggest important changes in the nature of worrying during late childhood.

A Cognitive Model of Pathological Worry in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…In line with these findings, Carr and Szabó (2015) showed that children (7-12 years) associated their experience of worry as more closely related to fear of negative outcomes as opposed to thinking about negative outcomes. However, this relationship was moderated by age, as older children tended to report their worries as more strongly associated with thinking and less closely related to fear.…”

“…Seven studies examined the verbal nature of worry in youth (see Table 3). Two studies used a modified version of The Child and Adolescent Worry questionnaire (CAW) to investigate whether children conceptualise worry as a process related to their fear of negative outcomes or the extent to which they think about negative outcomes (Szabó 2007;Carr and Szabó 2015). Szabó (2007) found that children (mean age of 9 years) reported their worries to be related to both fear and thinking processes, although the extent to which they reported fear of negative outcomes was relatively stronger than the extent to which they think about them, and this was more prominent for physical worries rather than for social worries.…”

The Metacognitions Questionnaire and Its Derivatives in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Psychometric Properties

“…There was a significant difference between the groups on PB scores only, with the older group scoring higher. Carr and Szabó (2015) in a non-clinical sample, age range 7–12, examined only PB and found no relationship between this subscale and age.…”

“…Eleven articles (Bacow et al, 2009; Irak, 2012; Smith and Hudson, 2013; Benedetto et al, 2014; Holmes et al, 2014; Carr and Szabó, 2015; Donovan et al, 2017; Francis et al, 2017, 2018; Hearn et al, 2017a), representing 10 separate samples reported Cronbach alphas for the MCQ-C (two studies Francis et al, 2017 and Francis et al, 2018 reported Cronbach alphas for different parts of the scale in the same sample). Internal reliability of the MCQ-C total score was adequate to good in the three studies that reported it (range 0.73 to 0.87).…”

“…* p <0.05 . Number of samples with correlations between symptoms and MCQ-C Total Score (TS) and subscales—Obsessive-Compulsive symptoms: TS and subscales, two samples (Irak, 2012; Boysan et al, 2016); Anxiety: TS, three samples (Irak, 2012; Kadak et al, 2013; Smith and Hudson, 2013) PB and NB four samples (Irak, 2012; Smith and Hudson, 2013; Benedetto et al, 2014; Hearn et al, 2017a) NFC and CSC, three samples (Irak, 2012; Smith and Hudson, 2013; Benedetto et al, 2014); Depression: TS, two samples (Bacow et al, 2009; Kadak et al, 2013) subscales, one sample (Bacow et al, 2009); Worry: TS, one sample (Bacow et al, 2009) PB, six samples (Hearn et al, 2017a; Bacow et al, 2009; Kertz and Woodruff-Borden, 2013; Carr and Szabó, 2015; Donovan et al, 2017; Francis et al, 2018, controlling for recruitment site) NB, five samples (Bacow et al, 2009; Kertz and Woodruff-Borden, 2013; Donovan et al, 2017; Hearn et al, 2017a; Francis et al, 2018, controlling for recruitment site) NFC and CSC, one sample (Bacow et al, 2009); Post-traumatic symptoms: one sample (Kadak et al, 2013); Dissociation: one sample (Kadak et al, 2013); Emotional Difficulties: one sample (Smith and Hudson, 2013) .…”