| OCR Text |
Show COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK LeeAnn Sudbury Cheryl Wright 104 A MODEL FOR TEACHING PARENTS HOW TO USE INTERVENTION TOOLS TO HELP THEM COACH THEIR CHILDREN THROUGH ANXIOUS SITUATIONS LeeAnn Sudbury (Scott Boyle, Cheryl Wright) College of Social Work and Family and Consumer Studies University of Utah Anxiety disorders are manifest in as many as 2 5 % of children. It is the most c o m m o n group of disorders among children. Previous research has shown that children with high levels of early anxiety or withdrawal are at an increased risk of later experiencing anxiety and depression. Studies have shown that children whose parents coach them through emotional situations, are more likely to grow up with the ability to regulate their o w n emotions. W h e n children were emotionally coached, they related better to other people even in the tough social situations. They were better at understanding people, and they had better friendships with other children. Helping children improve their self awareness and confidence, manage their disturbing emotions and impulses, and increased empathy improves behavior and academic achievement. Little research has been done to assess the effect of parents w h o have been trained to recognize and coach children through anxiety. The objective of this study was to create a model in which mothers would be taught techniques to help their children through anxious situations. Mothers in the study, self-identified that they had children w h o were worried or anxious. The research consisted of a pretest, one 90-minute educational training on how to help children with anxiety, a children's book designed to help children deal with anxiety, to be read with the child for one month, and a follow-up survey to measure the techniques that worked with the children. The results of the study showed that when mothers had the information and techniques for helping their children deal with anxiety or worry, and those techniques were used to coach them through anxious situations, children were better able to deal with the emotions of worry and anxiousness. This study will be useful for future research in examining the ways in which parents can more effectively help their children deal with anxiety. This research project was based on an original book written for children: WtolFWorrittBugMe Thos Bug-scare of I, Myself and Me The project was designed to provide parents with a fun and entertaining way to help their children to learn to self-soothe as they deal with the things that they fear the most Together, they explored 17 research-based methods to talk about when the child felt most anxious. |
