Anxietydisordersareoneofthemostcommondisordersamongyouthtoday.

Anxiety
cancauseadecreaseinacademic,social,andemotionalfunctioning.Longtermeffectsof
untreatedanxietyinchildrencanincludedepression,substanceuse/abuse,andanxietyin
adulthood(Sulkowski,Joyce&Storch,2012).Itisimportanttoconsiderthesenegativeeffects
anxietycanhaveonchildreninschool,anddiscusspotentialscreening,prevention,intervention
strategiesinordertohelptreatchildrenwithanxietywithintheschoolsystem.
Onestudy(Wood,2006)foundasignificantrelationshipbetweenchildanxietyand
schoolperformance.Throughacognitivebehavioraltherapyapproach,areductionofanxiety
resultedinimprovedschoolperformance.Anotherstudy(GrillsTaquechel,Fletcher,Vaughn,
Denton&Taylor,2013)foundthataparticularlycommonformofchildanxiety(separation
anxiety)wasrelatedtolowerreadingachievementinfirstgraders.Also,astudydoneontest
anxietyfoundthatinconditionsoftestanxiety,studentsdidnotperformwellontasksinvolving
workingmemory,aformofcognitivefunctioning(Ng&Lee,2015).Whatallofthesestudies
showisevidentialsupportforthenegativeeffectsanxietycanhaveonschoolchildren.Since
anxietyinchildrenhasbecomesowidespread,ithasbecomenecessarytolookintoscreening,
prevention,andinterventionservicesinschoolsinordertohelptreatstudents.
Screeninghasbeenusedasapreventativestrategyfortreatinganxietyinschoolchildren
becauseithelpstoidentifystudentswhodisplaysymptomsofanxietyearlyonsothat
interventionscanbeimplemented(Simon,Dirksen&Bgels,2013).Astudyinvestigatedthe
costeffectivenessofdifferentscreeningproceduresforanxietybycomparingfourdifferent
screeningapproaches.Theresultsfoundthatthescreeningstrategyofscreeningforanxiety
whilealsoofferingsupporttoeitherthechildorparentwasoneofthemostcosteffective

approaches,costingonlyalittlemorethanthedoingnothingapproach(Simon,Dirksen&
Bgels,2013).Theimplicationsofthisstudymeanthatscreeningforanxietyandoffering
differentialsupportwhereneededdoesnotneedtocostaschoolmuchmorethandoingnothing.
Inadditiontoscreening,thereareinterventionstotreatinganxietyinschoolsthatcanbe
beneficial,themostcommonbeingcognitivebehavioraltherapyapproaches.Onestudy(Essau,
Conradt,Sasagawa&Ollendick,2012)evaluatedthewidelyusedinterventionapproach
FRIENDS(acognitivebehavioralbasedapproach)intreatingchildanxietyinschools.The
resultsfoundthatthegroupofchildrenwhoreceivedthe10weekinterventiondisplayedreduced
anxietysymptomscomparedtothecontrolgroup.Anotherstudy(Ginsburg,Becker,Drazdowski
&Tein,2012)wantedtodetermineiftheimplementationofcognitivebasedintervention
approacheswasbetterthantheusualcareoftreatingchildanxiety(akaregulartherapy).The
resultsshowedthattherewasnodifferentbetweentheapproachesintreatinganxiety,butthat
bothapproachesweresuccessfulinalleviatingsymptomsofanxiety.Theimplicationofthese
resultsisthatanytypeoftherapy,whetheritbestrictlyCBTbasedornot,canbebeneficial
whentreatinganxietyinschoolchildren.Anotherstudy(VonDerEmbse,Barterian&Segool,
2013)lookedintointerventionapproachesfortreatingtestanxietyinstudents.Theresults
showedthattheinterventiontechniquesusedtotreatgeneralizedanxietydisorderwerejustas
effectivefortreatingtestanxiety.Theseinterventionsfellintofivecategories:behavioral,
cognitive,cognitivebehavioral,studyskills,andtesttakingskills.Also,anarticlediscussing
ResponsetoInterventionapproachestotreatinganxietyprovidesmultipletoolsandstrategies
thatcanbeusedinschoolstotreatanxietyinchildren(Sulkowski,Joyce&Storch,2012).

Insummary,childanxietyisbecominghighlyprevalentandcanhaveanaffectonschool
performanceand/oroverallmentalhealth.Itisimportantthatschoolpsychologistsbeinformed
ofthisissueinordertoproperlyassessandtreatchildreninschoolswhostrugglewithanxiety.