Anxiety is an everyday term, but what do we mean by it? Anxiety involves a sense of apprehension, with accompanying physiological reactions, typically associated with worrying about the future.  

How does anxiety present itself in children? There are three main ways:

• physiological reactions such as increased heart rate, tense muscles, tummy aches and headaches
• behavioural responses such as clinging to a parent, asking for reassurance and avoiding or escaping from challenging situations
• cognitive aspects such as worrying, expecting they won’t be able to manage situations, and expecting the worst to happen

Developmental changes occur in anxiety: for example, worries emerge in infants about separation from their parents, and this worry may also become strong in toddlers, but usually reduces as children get older.