ABSTRACT
Melissa has Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), a common, but poorly understood, childhood anxiety disorder. Interestingly, children with GAD oft en are regarded as well behaved, eager to please, perfectionistic, and overly mature (Ehrenreich & Gross, 2001). Melissa’s worries certainly sound mature for her age. GAD is characterized by excessive anxiety and worry that is diffi cult to control and is associated with a variety of somatic complaints. Although somatic complaints and cognitive worry are the major components of GAD, they also exist independently and quite frequently in the general population. Th us, before discussing the clinical syndrome of GAD, it is necessary to examine the construct of childhood worry.
