Question: If my child has separation anxiety, is he/she more
likely to develop an anxiety disorder later in life? Answer:
Anxiety tends to be consistent over the life span, but the area
that the anxiety is expressed changes, and tends to be
exaggeration of normal anxiety responses in childhood. So for
instance, the frequency of separation anxiety is much higher in
younger children who tend to be afraid of separation in general.
And these children tend to express their anxiety in different
ways as they age. In the teenage years they may be more likely
to have social phobia, and as adults to have more general
worries. So yes, kids who have separation anxiety are at more
risk to develop anxiety problems when they're adults -- about
three times more likely. But also only a small percentage of
kids who have anxiety disorders go on to develop them as adults.
Approximately 75 percent of those kids grow out of their
anxiety. So there are a number of things that can be done to
help kids with anxiety problems, such as