Abstract
Overanxious disorder is a childhood anxiety disorder subtype characterized by anxiety that is not focused on a specific situation or object. The hallmark of this disorder is excessive or unrealistic worry about future events, a symptom that is present in almost all children and adolescents diagnosed with overanxious disorder (Strauss, Lease, Last, & Francis, in press). Overanxious children also demonstrate excessive or unrealistic worry about past events, an overconcern about their performance or evaluation by others, an extreme need for reassurance by others, and marked self-consciousness. Finally, children with overanxious disorder are almost continuously tense and often have multiple somatic complaints, such as headaches, stomachaches, fatigue, dizziness, palpitations, and breath-lessness. This childhood subcategory appears to have many features in common with the adult-onset diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, but currently there is no information as to whether one is the developmental precursor of the other.
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© 1988 Plenum Press, New York
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Strauss, C.C. (1988). Overanxious Disorder. In: Hersen, M., Last, C.G. (eds) Child Behavior Therapy Casebook. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0993-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0993-2_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8282-2
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