Stress and anxiety in our children are the top mental health issues worrying callers to ChildLine and teachers alike (see Headteacher Update, 2023). The general consensus is that anxiety is common and rising in our young, and even in the very young (Thornton, 2024).
Estimating the significance and scale of the problem
Often assumed to be a teenage issue, anxiety in young children is under-researched, under-recognised, and under-treated (Creswell et al, 2020).
Anxiety is noxious in itself, disruptive of social, emotional, and academic development – and anxiety in early childhood is also strongly predictive of later mental health problems (Bittner et al 2007; Finlay-Jones et al, 2024). Expert opinion increasingly suggests that addressing anxiety effectively in the primary school range is not only important for the anxious child, but that early intervention can mitigate mental health problems in adolescence and beyond (Creswell et al, 2020; Luby et al, 2020).
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