Marissa Bailey, Paola Perez, and Rocco Rosselli COCO 725: Interventions for children and adolescents

 Excessive fear and worry  Trait anxiety: anxiety that is chronic and effects all aspects of ones life (Huberty, 2010)  State Anxiety: anxiety that is present in specific situations that usually occurs because of a certain trigger (Huberty, 2010)

 Symptoms ◦ Cognitive ◦ Behavioral ◦ Physiologically Test Anxiety Video

Prevalence rates of anxiety vary from 10% to 22%, with a lifetime rate estimation of 28.8% (Miller, 2010). According to the Anxiety Disorder Association of America, Anxiety disorders affect 1/8 of children A variety of anxiety symptoms, including fear of separation from attachment figures and social withdrawal, were endorsed by more than 10% of non-disordered children. In addition, a fear of heights, a fear of public speaking, somatic complaints, and an avoidance of contact with others were indicated by approximately 20% of children,” (Witteborg, 2009).

Most adolescents cope with these situations well, but up to 30% of students experience severe anxiety, a condition often termed "test anxiety,"” (Huberty 2010) 1/3 of students experiencing anxiety usually goes unnoticed by teachers and staff. More studies even show that students suffer from up to 5% of anxiety complaints that are intense enough to interfere in their daily functioning, (Muris, 2008).

Studies shows the number of students experiencing anxiety is on an increase Most students experiencing anxiety stay quiet and continue to suffer because of fear of embarrassment.

School refusal School dropout Poor academic performance Attention issues Social behavior problems Engage in substance abuse Peer relationship difficulties (Witteborg, 2009) Negative impact on: students self-esteem effort and motivation on school tasks, (Huberty, 2010).

 While males and females present similar symptoms of anxiety on self-report measures of anxiety females tend to score higher (Reynolds, 1998).  However, it is unclear whether females experience higher levels of anxiety or if they are just able to perceive symptoms of anxiety more readily than males.  For males the developmental trajectory for anxiety remains relatively stable throughout childhood and adolescence. Whereas for females the developmental trajectory for anxiety shows that a higher level of problems increase with age (Witteborg et al., 2009).

 ELL students can suffer from language anxiety which is anxiety based on self perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors related to the uniqueness of their language learning process (Aydin, 2009).  Language anxiety consists of three different categories: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety.

 Communication apprehension is the fear of communicating with others in the English language.  Fear of negative evaluation is feeling unable to make proper social impressions due to limitations in the English language.  Test anxiety is a fear of negative academic evaluation, academic failure, and feelings of failure in learning the English language (Aydin, 2009).

 The increase of ELL students as well as the increase of ethnic minority students emphasizes the need for counselors to engage in culturally competent counseling!  A way in which this can be done is to adapt and modify existing evidenced-based interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to address the needs of ethnic minorities. ◦ Counseling interventions need to be adapted to the needs, values, and characteristics of the specific cultures being served.  Adapting evidence-based interventions such as CBT creates an integrated approach that is culturally specific while also focusing on the universal elements of the intervention (Wood et al., 2008).

 This can be done by: ◦ counselors spending time learning about each family’s cultural practices, acculturative status, migration history, language proficiencies and preferences, as well as other relevant background history (Wood, Chiu, Hwang, Jacobs, & Ifenkwunigwe, 2008). ◦ respecting the family’s conceptualization of mental illness, establishing CBT goals that are valued by the family, and aligning CBT techniques with family cultural beliefs and traditions (Wood et al., 2008)

 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  Relaxation Training

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Schoenfeld, N.A. & Mathur, S. R. (2009). Effects of cognitive-behavioral intervention on the school performance of students with emotional or behavioral disorders and anxiety. Behavioral Disorders, 34(4), Webb, L. D. & Brigman, G. A. (2006). Student success skills: tools and strategies for improved academic and social outcomes. ASCA Professional School Counseling, 10(2), Weems, C. F., Scott, B.G., Taylor, L. K., Cannon, M. F., Romano, D. M., Perry, A. M., & Triplett, V. (2010). Test anxiety prevention and intervention programs in schools: Program development and rationale. School of Mental Health, 2(2), Witteborg, K. M., Lowe, P. A., & Lee, S. W. (2009). Examination of the relationship among different dimensions of trait anxiety, demographic variables, and self-reported school adjustment in elementary and secondary school students. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 28(1) Wood, J. J., Chiu, A. W., Hwang, W., Jacobs, J., & Ifenkwunigwe, M. (2008). Adapting cognitive- behavioral therapy for Mexican American students with anxiety disorders: Recommendations for school psychologists. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(4),

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