Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T16:11:45.165Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Child Avoidance of Anxiety-Provoking Situations in the Classroom and Teacher Accommodation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2021

Golda S. Ginsburg ,
Jeffrey E. Pella Open the ORCID record for Jeffrey E. Pella [Opens in a new window] ,
Anneliese DeVito  and
Grace Chan
Golda S. Ginsburg*
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Jeffrey E. Pella
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Anneliese DeVito
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Grace Chan
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Golda Ginsburg, PhD, University of Connecticut School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, 65 Kane Street Room 2033, West Hartford, CT 06119, USA. Email: gginsburg@uchc.edu
Get access

Abstract

This study examined: (1) school-based avoidance among students with problematic anxiety, (2) teachers’ levels of accommodation of avoidant behaviour, and (3) the relation between teacher accommodation and student avoidance and anxiety. Participants included 31 elementary school students with problematic anxiety (mean age = 7.7 years; range 5–11; 58% female; 71% White) and their teachers (mean age = 41.1 years; 100% female; 100% White). Children completed interviews about their anxiety, and teachers reported on students’ avoided situations and completed a questionnaire about their own use of accommodation. Results indicated that the most commonly avoided situations involved individual and group academic performance (e.g., reading aloud in front of class). All teachers engaged in some form of accommodating behaviour more than one day a week (e.g., assisted a student in avoiding things that might make him/her more anxious), and teachers who reported engaging in more accommodating behaviours had students with higher avoidance and anxiety. Findings suggest that additional training and research on teachers’ behaviours that maintain and/or reduce anxiety via reducing accommodating behaviours appears warranted.

Keywords

Childanxietyavoidanceteacheraccommodation
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , June 2023 , pp. 51 - 61
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J.L., & Lerman, R. (2018). Teacher Responses to Anxiety in Children Questionnaire (TRAC): psychometric properties and relationship with teaching staff characteristics. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 23, 154–168.10.1080/13632752.2017.1376974CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blazar, D., & Kraft, M.A. (2017). Teacher and teaching effects on students’ attitudes and behaviors. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39, 146–170.10.3102/0162373716670260CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caporino, N.E., Morgan, J., Beckstead, J., Phares, V., Murphy, T.K., & Storch, E.A. (2012). A structural equation analysis of family accommodation in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 133–143.10.1007/s10802-011-9549-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conroy, K., Greif Green, J., Phillips, K., Poznanski, B., Coxe, S., Kendall, P.C., & Comer, J.S. (2020). School-based accommodations and supports for anxious youth: benchmarking reported practices against expert perspectives. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. Advance online publication.Google ScholarPubMed
Conroy, K., Hong, N., Poznanski, B., Hart, K.C., Ginsburg, G.S., Fabiano, G.A., & Comer, J.S. (2021). Harnessing home-school partnerships and school consultation to support youth with anxiety. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. doi.10.1016/j.cbpra.2021.02.007 Google ScholarPubMed
Flessner, C.A., Freeman, J.B., Sapyta, J., Garcia, A., Franklin, M.E., March, J.S., & Foa, E. (2011). Predictors of parental accommodation in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: Findings from the pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder treatment study (POTS) trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50, 716–725.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garcia, A.M., Sapyta, J.J., Moore, P.S., Freeman, J.B., Franklin, M.E., March, J.S., & Foa, E.B. (2010). Predictors and moderators of treatment outcome in the Pediatric Obsessive Compulsive Treatment Study (POTS I). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 1024–1033.10.1016/j.jaac.2010.06.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsburg, G.S., Drake, K.L., Muggeo, M.A., Stewart, C.E., Pikulski, P.J., Zheng, D., & Harel, O. (2021). A pilot RCT of a school nurse delivered intervention to reduce student anxiety. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 50, 177–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsburg, G.S., Pella, J.E., Piselli, K., & Chan, G. (2019). Teacher Anxiety Program for Elementary Students (TAPES): Intervention development and proposed randomized controlled trial. Trials, 20, 1–16.10.1186/s13063-019-3863-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsburg, G.S., Siqueland, L., Masia-Warner, C., & Hedtke, K.A. (2004). Anxiety disorders in children: Family matters. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 11, 28–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, J.G., Comer, J.S., Donaldson, A.R., Elkins, R.M., Nadeau, M.S., Reid, G., & Pincus, D.B. (2017). School functioning and use of school-based accommodations by treatment-seeking anxious children. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 25, 220–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, J.G., Guzmán, J., Didaskalou, E., Harbaugh, A.G., Segal, N., & LaBillois, J. (2018). Teacher identification of student emotional and behavioral problems and provision of early supports: A vignette-based study. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 26, 225–242.10.1177/1063426617740879CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guy, W. (1976). ECDEU Assessment manual for psychopharmacology. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, NIMH Psychopharmacology Research Branch, Division of Extramural Research Programs.Google Scholar
Hudson, J.L., & Rapee, R.M. (2004). From anxious temperament to disorder: An etiological model . In Heimberg, R.G., Turk, C.L. & Mennin, D.S. (Eds.), Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Advances in research and practice (pp. 51–76). The Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Iniesta-Sepúlveda, M., Rodríguez-Jiménez, T., Lebowitz, E.R., Goodman, W.K., & Storch, E.A. (2021). The relationship of family accommodation with pediatric anxiety severity: Meta-analytic findings and child, family and methodological moderators. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 52, 1–14.10.1007/s10578-020-00987-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jensen-Doss, A., Ehrenreich-May, J., Nanda, M.M., Maxwell, C.A., LoCurto, J., Shaw, A.M., Souer, H., Rosenfield, D., & Ginsburg, G.S. (2018). Community Study of Outcome Monitoring for Emotional Disorders in Teens (COMET): A comparative effectiveness trial of a transdiagnostic treatment and a measurement feedback system. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 74, 18–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kagan, E.R., Peterman, J.S., Carper, M.M., & Kendall, P.C. (2016). Accommodation and treatment of anxious youth. Depression and Anxiety, 33, 840–847.10.1002/da.22520CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendall, P.C., Robin, J.A., Hedtke, K.A., Suveg, C., Flannery-Schroeder, E., & Gosch, E. (2005). Considering CBT with anxious youth? Think exposures. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 12, 136–148.10.1016/S1077-7229(05)80048-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebowitz, E.R., Woolston, J., Bar-Haim, Y., Calvocoressi, L., Dauser, C., Warnick, E., Scahill, L., Chakir, A.R., Shechner, T., Hermes, H., Vitulano, L.A., King, R.A., & Leckman, J.F. (2013). Family accommodation in pediatric anxiety disorders. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 47–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKay, D. (2018). Developing exposure hierarchies. In Storch, E.A., McGuire, J.F., & McKay, D. (Eds.), The clinician’s guide to cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder (pp. 75–87). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Meyer, J.M., Clapp, J.D., Whiteside, S.P., Dammann, J., Kriegshauser, K.D., Hale, L.R., Jacobi, D.M., Riemann, B.C., & Deacon, B.J. (2018). Predictive relationship between parental beliefs and accommodation of pediatric anxiety. Behavior Therapy, 49, 580–593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piselli, K., Pella, J.E., Chan, G., & Ginsburg, G.S. (2021). The Teacher Anxiety Program for Elementary Students (TAPES): Open trial results. Education and Treatment of Children.Google Scholar
Raggi, V.L., Samson, J.G., Felton, J.W., Loffredo, H.R., & Berghorst, L.H. (2018). Exposure therapy for treating anxiety in children and adolescents: A comprehensive guide. New Harbinger Publications.Google Scholar
Silverman, W.K., & Albano, A.M. (1996). The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM–IV—Child and parent versions. Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Silverman, W.K., Saavedra, L.M., & Pina, A.A. (2001). Test-retest reliability of anxiety symptoms and diagnoses with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child and parent versions. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 937–944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swan, A.J., & Kendall, P.C. (2016). Fear and missing out: Youth anxiety and functional outcomes. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 23, 417–435.Google Scholar
Thompson-Hollands, J., Kerns, C.E., Pincus, D.B., & Comer, J.S. (2014). Parental accommodation of child anxiety and related symptoms: Range, impact, and correlates. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 28, 765–773.10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.09.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed