title: Anxiety disorder symptoms in children and adolescents: differences by age and gender in a community sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anxiety symptoms in childhood and adolescence are an important risk factor for developing anxiety disorders in subsequent development stages. This study examines the frequency and characteristics of the symptoms of the principal anxiety disorders in children and adoloscents using a self-report questionnaire based on the diagnostic categories of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) manual.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, non-interventional study was conducted on 2522 children and adolescents form 8 to 17 years (49% males), enrolled from different schools in the Province of Alicante who completed the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean score obtained on the scale (range: 0-114) was 25.15 (standard deviation (SD)=13.54). More than one in four (26.41%) of the children and adolescents showed high scores in any anxiety disorder. The anxiety symptoms due to separation were the most frequent in the sample (5.5%), followed by physical fears (5.1%). Girls scored significantly higher in all disorders (P<.001), except in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Differences were found as regards age in all disorders, except physical fears, but the effect sizes were only in anxiety due to separation, which decreased with age, and generalised anxiety, which was higher in adolescents than in children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From the mental health perspective, it is important to be able to detect anxiety symptoms in children from 8 years onwards, in order to intervene early and prevent the development of anxiety disorders in later life.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicología de la Salud, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Alicante, España. morgiles@umh.es
authors.forename: Mireia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orgilés
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Méndez
authors.forename: José Pedro
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Espada
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Carballo
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Piqueras
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution