Asian Nursing Research
Volume 3, Issue 2 , Pages 49-62 , June 2009

Measuring Anxiety in Children: A Methodological Review of the Literature

  • Hae-Ra Han, RN, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Hae-Ra Han, RN, PhD, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing, 525 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205-2110, USA

Received 23 February 2009 ,Revised 17 March 2009 ,Accepted 27 April 2009.

References 

  1. *Indicates studies measuring anxiety in children that were included in the review.
  2. * Achenbach TM . Manual for the child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile . Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry; 1991;
  3. Akçakaya N , Aydogan M , Hassanzadeh A , Camcioglu Y , Cokugraş H . Psychological problems in Turkish asthmatic children and their families . Allergologia et immunopathologia . 2003;31:282–287
  4. American Psychiatric Association  . In: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV . 4th ed.. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2000;p. 429–484
  5. Anderson ER , Hope DA . The relationship among social phobia, objective and perceived physiological reactivity, and anxiety sensitivity in an adolescent population . Journal of Anxiety Disorder . 2009;23:18–26
  6. * Behar LB . The Preschool Behavior Questionnaire . Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology . 1977;5:256–275
  7. Benton TD , Ifeagwu JA , Smith-Whitley K . Anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease . Current Psychiatry Reports . 2007;9:114–121
  8. Blumberg SH , Izard CE . Discriminating patterns of emotions in 10-and 11-year-old children's anxiety and depression . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . 1986;51:852–857
  9. Bourne EJ . In: The anxiety and phobia workbook . 4th ed.. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications; 2006;p. 4–29
  10. * Brandt K , Fenz WD . Specificity in verbal and physiological indicants of anxiety . Perceptual and Motor Skills . 1969;29:663–675
  11. Castaneda A , McCandless BR , Palermo DS . The children's form of the manifest anxiety scale . Child Development . 1956;27:317–326
  12. Cattell RB . Comments on Drs. Lazarus and Averill's paper . In:  Spielberger CD editors. Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research . New York: Academic Press; 1972;p. 285–290
  13. Cattell RB , Scheier IH . The nature of anxiety: A review of thirteen multivariate analyses comprising 814 variables . Psychological Reports . 1958;4:351–388
  14. * Chorpita BF , Tracey SA , Brown TA , Collica TJ , Barlow DH . Assessment of worry in children of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire . Behavior Research and Therapy . 1997;35:569–581
  15. Claar RL , Baber KF , Simons LE , Logan DE , Walker LS . Pain coping profiles in adolescents with chronic pain . Pain . 2008;140:368–375
  16. * Clatworthy S , Simon K , Tiedeman ME . Child drawing: Hospital – an instrument designed to measure the emotional status of hospitalized school-aged children . Journal of Pediatric Nursing . 1999;14:2–9
  17. Codori A , Petersen GM , Boyd PA , Brandt J , Giardiello FM . Genetic testing for cancer in children: Short-term psychological effect . Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine . 1996;150:1131–1138
  18. Compas BE , Worsham NL , Epping-Jordan JE , Grant KE , Mireault G , Howell DC , et al.   When mom or dad has cancer: Markers of psychological distress in cancer patients, spouses, and children . Health Psychology . 1994;13:507–515
  19. Conklin HM , Li C , Xiong X , Ogg RJ , Merchant TE . Predicting change in academic abilities after conformal radiation therapy for localized ependymoma . Journal of Clinical Oncology . 2008;26:3965–3970
  20. * Endler NS , Hunt JM , Rosenstein AJ . An S-R inventory of anxiousness . Psychological Monographs . 1962;536:1–33
  21. Fenz WD . Specificity in somatic responses to anxiety . Perceptual and Motor Skills . 1967;24:1183–1190
  22. * Fenz WD , Epstein S . Manifest anxiety: Unifactorial or multifactorial composition . Perceptual and Motor Skills . 1965;20:773–780
  23. Finch AJ , Kendall PC , Dannenburg MA , Morgan JR . Effects of task difficulty on state-trait anxiety in emotionally disturbed children . Journal of Genetic Psychology . 1978;133:253–259
  24. Freud S . The problem of anxiety . New York: Norton; 1936;
  25. Gerlach AL , Mourlane D , Rist F . Public and private heart rate feedback in social phobia: A manipulation of anxiety visibility . Cognitive Behaviour Therapy . 2004;33:36–45
  26. Hazzard A , Webb C , Kleemeier C , Angert L , Pohl J . Child sexual abuse prevention: Evaluation and one-year follow-up . Child Abuse & Neglect . 1991;15:123–138
  27. Heiney SP , Bryant LH , Walker S , Parrish RS , Provenzano FJ , Kelly KE . Impact of parental anxiety on child emotional adjustment when a parent has cancer . Oncology Nursing Forum . 1997;24:655–661
  28. Izard CE . Comments on Drs. Phillips, Martin, and Meyers' paper . In:  Spielberger CD editors. Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research . New York: Academic Press; 1972;p. 465–468
  29. Joiner TE , Schmidt KL , Schmidt NB . Low-end specificity of childhood measures of emotional distress: Differential effects for depression and anxiety . Journal of Personality Assessment . 1996;67:258–271
  30. * Joshi RT . Field-dependence, anxiety, and personality . Perceptual and Motor Skills . 1974;38:1328
  31. Kantaputra PN , Chiewcharnvalijkit K , Wairatpanich K , Malikaew P , Aramrattana A . Children's attitudes toward behavior management techniques used by dentists . Journal of Dentistry for Children . 2007;74:4–9
  32. * Kaufman AS , Eller BF , Applegate B . An investigation of somatic anxiety and intelligence in children using the Kaufman-ABC and an APPLE Iie program measuring heart rate . Perceptual and Motor Skills . 1990;70:387–394
  33. Kim DY , Rah YC , Kim DW , Kim SW , Han DH , Kong IG , et al.   Impact of tonsillectomy on pediatric psychological status . International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology . 2008;72:1359–1363
  34. Kleinman MJ , Russ SW . Primary process thinking and anxiety in children . Journal of Personality . 1988;52:254–262
  35. Kovacs M . Rating scales to assess depression in preschool children . Acta Paedopsychiatry . 1981;46:305–315
  36. Lähteenmäki PM , Sjöblom J , Korhonen T , Salmi TT . The life situation of parents over the first year after their child's cancer diagnosis . Acta Paediatrica . 2004;93:1654–1660
  37. Lazarus RS , Averill JR . Emotion and cognition: with special reference to anxiety . In:  Spielberger CD editors. Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research . New York: Academic Press; 1972;p. 241–283
  38. * Lore RK . Palmar sweating and transitory anxiety in children . Child Development . 1965;36:115–124
  39. Mackner LM , Crandall WV , Szigethy EM . Psychosocial functioning in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease . Inflammatory Bowel Diseases . 2006;12:239–244
  40. May R . The meaning of anxiety . New York: Ronald Press; 1950;
  41. Meyer TJ , Miller ML , Metzger RL , Borkovec TD . Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire . Behavior Research and Therapy . 1990;28:487–495
  42. Mohammadi MR , Taylor E , Fombonne E . Prevalence of psychological problems amongst Iranian immigrant children and adolescents in UK . Iranian Journal of Psychiatry . 2006;1:12–18
  43. Moore JB , Mosher RB . Adjustment responses of children and their mothers to cancer: Self-care and anxiety . Oncology Nursing Forum . 1997;24:519–525
  44. Mullick MS , Nahar JS , Haq SA . Psychiatric morbidity, stressors, impact, and burden in juvenile idiopathic arthritis . Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition . 2005;23:142–149
  45. Piaget J . The psychology of intelligence . London: Routledge; 1950;
  46. * Prytula RE , Hiland DN . Analysis of general anxiety scale for children and draw-a-person measures of general anxiety level of elementary school children . Perceptual and Motor Skills . 1975;41:995–1007
  47. * Rebesco M , Cotler S , Jason LA . The development and validation of a behavior rating scale for blood sampling with children . Heart & Lung . 1984;13:540–545
  48. Reynolds CR . Concurrent validity of What I think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety . Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology . 1980;6:271–280
  49. * Reynolds CR , Richmond BO . What I think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety . Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology . 1978;6:271–280
  50. Sands SA , Milner JS , Goldberg J , Mukhi V , Moliterno JA , Maxfield C , et al.   Quality of life and behavioral follow-up study of pediatric survivors of craniopharyngioma . Journal of Neurosurgery . 2005;103:302–311
  51. Schultz KA , Ness KK , Whitton J , Recklitis C , Zebrack B , Robison LL , et al.   Behavioral and social outcomes in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer: A report from the childhood cancer survivor study . Journal of Clinical Oncology . 2007;25:3649–3656
  52. Servitzoglou M , Papadatou D , Tsiantis I , Vasilatou-Kosmidis H . Psychosocial functioning of young adolescent and adult survivors of childhood cancer . Support Care in Cancer . 2008;16:29–36
  53. Sheskin RB , Klein H , Lowental U . Assessment of children's anxiety throughout dental treatment by their drawings . Journal of Dentistry for Children . 1982;49:99–106
  54. Sonnenberg E , Venham E . Human figure drawings as a measure of the child's response to dental visits . Journal of Dentistry for Children . 1977;44:438–442
  55. Spielberger CD . Theory and research on anxiety . In:  Spielberger CD editors. Anxiety and behavior . New York: Academic Press; 1966;p. 3–20
  56. Spielberger CD . Conceptual and methodological issues in anxiety research . In:  Spielberger CD editors. Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research . New York: Academic Press; 1972;p. 481–493
  57. * Spielberger CD . Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children . Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press; 1973;
  58. Stam H , Grootenhuis MA , Last BF . Social and emotional adjustment in young survivors of childhood cancer . Supportive Care in Cancer . 2001;9:489–513
  59. Stam H , Grootenhuis MA , Caron HN , Last BF . Quality of life and current coping in young adult survivors of childhood cancer: Positive expectations about the further course of the disease were correlated with better quality of life . Psychooncology . 2006;15:31–43
  60. Sullivan HS . The interpersonal theory of psychiatry . New York: Norton; 1953;
  61. van de Putte EM , Engelbert RH , Kuis W , Kimpen JL , Uiterwaal CS . Alexithymia in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome . Journal of Psychosomatic Research . 2007;63:377–380
  62. von Essen L , Enskär K , Kreuger A , Larsson B , Sjödén PO . Self-esteem, depression and anxiety among Swedish children and adolescents on and off cancer treatment . Acta Paediatrica . 2000;89:229–236
  63. Watson D , Kendall PC . Understanding anxiety and depression: Their relation to negative and positive affective states . In:  Kendall PC ,  Watson D editor. Anxiety and depression: Distinctive and overlapping features . San Diego, CA: Academic Press; 1989;p. 3–26
  64. Welch AS , Wadsworth ME , Compas BE . Adjustment of children and adolescents to parental cancer . Cancer . 1996;77:1409–1418
  65. Wesley, R. L. (1988). Social support and health outcomes associated with children with sickle cell disease. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
  66. Windsorova D , Stewart SM , Lovitt R , Waller DA , Andrews WS . Emotional adaptation in children after liver transplantation . Journal of Pediatrics . 1991;119:880–887
  67. Yeh CH , Wang YF . Competence of and emotional/behavioral problems in pediatric oncology patients in Taiwan . Cancer Nursing . 2004;27:413–422

PII: S1976-1317(09)60016-5

doi: 10.1016/S1976-1317(09)60016-5

Asian Nursing Research
Volume 3, Issue 2 , Pages 49-62 , June 2009