ABSTRACT
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychiatric conditions of childhood with estimated prevalence rates ranging from 3 percent to 25 percent (Bernstein, Borchardt, & Perwien, 1996; Cartwright-Hatton, McNicol, & Doubleday, 2006; Kessler et al., 1994). They confer substantial clinical impairment and increased risk for persistent negative long-term outcomes for affected youth. Studies indicate that anxiety disorders in childhood are associated with psychosocial impairment in multiple domains of functioning including school, home, and peer relationships (Langley, Bergman, McCracken, & Piacentini, 2004). Children with anxiety disorders have fewer close friendships, experience more peer victimization, and have greater perceptions of parental over-control, attachment, and rejection than their healthy peers (Crawford & Manassis, 2011; Hale, Klimstra, Branje, Wijsbroek, & Meeus, 2013; Scharfstein, Alfano, Beidel, & Wong, 2011; Storch et al., 2006). Moreover, anxiety disorders often persist into adulthood and are predictive of later psychopathology, including adult substance use disorders and depression (Cole, Peeke, Martin, Truglio, & Seroczynski, 1998; Costello, Mustillo, Erkanli, Keeler, & Angold, 2003).
