Anxious-Irritable Children: A Distinct Subtype of Childhood Anxiety?

In this study, our aims were to confirm the preponderance of irritability in clinically anxious children and compare clinically anxious children with irritability to those without irritability across sociodemographic, clinical, psychosocial, and family domains. Participants were 230 children with anxiety disorders (ages 6-14 years) and their mothers, and 91 healthy controls (ages 6-17 years) and their mothers. Of the clinically anxious children, 121 were anxious and irritable; 109 were anxious but not irritable. Irritability levels were significantly higher in the clinically anxious children compared with the healthy controls. Children with anxiety disorders and irritability presented with greater severity and impairment across clinical phenomenology, psychosocial, and family domains relative to anxious children without irritability. Regression analysis findings were convergent in that greater severity and impairment across these same domains predicted higher irritability levels in the children with anxiety disorders. Results support the meaningful distinction between anxious children with and without irritability. Implications of the findings are discussed particularly in regard to assessment and treatment and future research directions are delineated.
PMID: 32138933 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Behavior Therapy - February 29, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Shimshoni Y, Lebowitz ER, Brotman MA, Pine DS, Leibenluft E, Silverman WK Tags: Behav Ther Source Type: research