ABSTRACT
Crisis hotlines have been central to suicide prevention efforts; however, utilization among youth remains low. A sample of at-risk youth was surveyed about their awareness, utilization, and attitudes toward local and national crisis hotlines. Youth reported low rates of awareness and utilization, yet expressed a strong interest in phone hotlines (41% vs. 59% for new media categories combined). Youth reported stigma, but that help-seeking could be positively influenced by peers and adults in their support system. Implications include making crisis services available across several mediums and the importance of engaging trusted others in youth suicide awareness campaigns and prevention efforts.
Subject(s)
Crisis Intervention , Help-Seeking Behavior , Hotlines , Social Support , Suicide Prevention , Suicide , Adolescent , Child , Crisis Intervention/methods , Crisis Intervention/organization & administration , Female , Hotlines/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Male , Maryland , Needs Assessment , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data , Peer Group , Preventive Health Services/methods , Preventive Health Services/organization & administration , Social Stigma , Suicide/psychology , Suicide/statistics & numerical data , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
While parenting behaviors among anxious parents have been implicated in the familial transmission of anxiety, little is known about whether these parenting behaviors are unique to specific parental anxiety disorders. The current study examined differences in the use of five specific parenting behaviors (i.e., warmth/positive affect, criticism, doubts of child competency, over-control, and granting of autonomy) in anxious parents with (n = 21) and without (n = 45) social anxiety disorder (SAD) during a 5-minute task with their non-anxious child (aged 7-12 years, M = 9.14). Parents with SAD demonstrated less warmth/positive affect and more criticism and doubts of child competency than did those without SAD. There were no group differences in over-control or granting of autonomy. Findings help clarify inconsistent results in the literature, inform models of familial transmission, and suggest intervention targets for parents with SAD.
Subject(s)
Anxiety/psychology , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychology , Phobic Disorders/psychology , Adult , Affect/physiology , Anxiety/diagnosis , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Competency/psychology , Middle Aged , Personal Autonomy , Phobic Disorders/diagnosisABSTRACT
Social phobia (SOP) and selective mutism (SM) are related anxiety disorders characterized by distress and dysfunction in social situations. SOP typically onsets in adolescence and affects about 8% of the general population, whereas SM onsets before age 5 and is prevalent in up to 2% of youth. Prognosis includes a chronic course that confers risk for other disorders or ongoing social disability, but more favorable outcomes may be associated with young age and low symptom severity. SOP treatments are relatively more established, whereas dissemination of promising and innovative SM-treatment strategies is needed.
