The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood
Recent statistics suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders can occur earlier in life than previously thought, and appear to be on the increase. The burden that is associated with internalizing symptoms is large, with children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development negativel...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-09-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.517896/full |
| _version_ | 1818991225048399872 |
|---|---|
| author | Natalie Baughman Susan L. Prescott Susan L. Prescott Susan L. Prescott Rosanna Rooney |
| author_facet | Natalie Baughman Susan L. Prescott Susan L. Prescott Susan L. Prescott Rosanna Rooney |
| author_sort | Natalie Baughman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent statistics suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders can occur earlier in life than previously thought, and appear to be on the increase. The burden that is associated with internalizing symptoms is large, with children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development negatively impacted. Research suggests that early intervention and prevention is vital for adaptive development, and this review set out to explore the literature regarding social-emotional learning programs for children of preschool age that aim to prevent and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. The review focused on interventions that could be delivered universally in the school context to children aged 4–6 years or their parents. Only six programs were identified that met these criteria. The results of this review suggest that intervention and prevention efforts in early childhood are needed and can be effective in terms of reducing the burden associated with internalizing symptoms in childhood, at least in the short term. This appears to be the case particularly when parents are actively involved in the intervention, too. However, more rigorous research is needed that involves larger randomized controlled trials with multiple reporters and consistent administration of assessments across the samples. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T20:06:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8bebb5fdf8b74151b09cf5ca8baf17ad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T20:06:53Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8bebb5fdf8b74151b09cf5ca8baf17ad2022-12-21T19:27:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-09-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.517896517896The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early ChildhoodNatalie Baughman0Susan L. Prescott1Susan L. Prescott2Susan L. Prescott3Rosanna Rooney4School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, AustraliaThe ORIGINS Project, Telethon Kids Institute and the Division of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, AustraliaSchool of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, AustraliaPerth Children’s Hospital, Nedlands, WA, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, AustraliaRecent statistics suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders can occur earlier in life than previously thought, and appear to be on the increase. The burden that is associated with internalizing symptoms is large, with children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development negatively impacted. Research suggests that early intervention and prevention is vital for adaptive development, and this review set out to explore the literature regarding social-emotional learning programs for children of preschool age that aim to prevent and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. The review focused on interventions that could be delivered universally in the school context to children aged 4–6 years or their parents. Only six programs were identified that met these criteria. The results of this review suggest that intervention and prevention efforts in early childhood are needed and can be effective in terms of reducing the burden associated with internalizing symptoms in childhood, at least in the short term. This appears to be the case particularly when parents are actively involved in the intervention, too. However, more rigorous research is needed that involves larger randomized controlled trials with multiple reporters and consistent administration of assessments across the samples.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.517896/fullearly childhoodprevention programsanxiety disordersdepressive disordersmental health promotionschool-based programs |
| spellingShingle | Natalie Baughman Susan L. Prescott Susan L. Prescott Susan L. Prescott Rosanna Rooney The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood Frontiers in Psychology early childhood prevention programs anxiety disorders depressive disorders mental health promotion school-based programs |
| title | The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood |
| title_full | The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood |
| title_fullStr | The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood |
| title_short | The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Early Childhood |
| title_sort | prevention of anxiety and depression in early childhood |
| topic | early childhood prevention programs anxiety disorders depressive disorders mental health promotion school-based programs |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.517896/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nataliebaughman thepreventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT susanlprescott thepreventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT susanlprescott thepreventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT susanlprescott thepreventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT rosannarooney thepreventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT nataliebaughman preventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT susanlprescott preventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT susanlprescott preventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT susanlprescott preventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood AT rosannarooney preventionofanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhood |