Anxiety in children can present itself in ways that can at times look like a child is misbehaving. However, it can be a sign of underlying anxiety.
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Avoidance – Behaviour Analysts point out that the parent may notice through the child’s behaviour, that the child is avoiding a task or activity that provokes anxiety in them. This can happen at times for example, when their sibling might naturally be very good at something that they struggle to do, which then due to sibling rivalry, & wanting to be as good at their siblings, this can lead to the child then avoiding doing these tasks that they don’t feel competent in.
Overplanning – Excessively planning for a situation & overthinking every detail to try gain a feeling of some control of the anxiety provoking situation & trying to minimise the chance of anything going wrong.
Difficulty Managing Anger – Due to all the worry & anxiety the child is feeling, Behaviour Therapists highlight that these negative feelings can all simmer up inside of the child, & something completely unrelated could trigger these negative emotions to all come out in the form of outbursts, which may look similar to tantrums, but the source of it is the anxiety that is simmering inside.
Negativity – Having difficulty being positive about situations due to the feelings of anxiety they provoke. This can make parenting difficult, when a child is being negative about a situation, but Child Therapists recommend focusing on addressing the route of the problem, for example, the anxiety that is causing the negativity, & this can help to reduce or eliminate the feelings of negativity.
Difficulty Sleeping – Dwelling on things/worrying about things when they are trying to fall asleep can be stemming from anxiety. As there are no other distractions to keep the child’s mind busy at night, then this is a time that anxieties can present themselves at a high level, which in turn can result in the child having difficulty getting to sleep. Studies in the field of Behaviour Analysis show that the lack of sleep can then have a knock on effect on the child’s general behaviour, as due to tiredness they may be more irritable & less able to handle situations well, which may result in more behaviour challenges occurring during the day.
Attention-Seeking Behaviours – Sometimes, when a child doesn’t feel good enough, & has low self-esteem, they feel anxious & so participate in attention-seeking behaviours where they try to show off, or boast about their achievements, in order to try to get validation from other people, in order to feel better about themselves.
The above are all ways in which anxiety in children can present itself, & it is beneficial as a parent to be aware of these, so these signs can be spotted & addressed effectively if the child is feeling anxious.
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