# Parent Perceptions of an Anxiety Prevention Manual for Young Children

## TL;DR

This study explores how parents perceive an anxiety management manual for young children and whether they would use it to help their kids cope with anxiety.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel anxiety management manual for young children and evaluates parents' perceptions of its usefulness.

## Key findings

- Parents found the manual useful and would use it to help their children manage anxiety.
- Key themes included learning new strategies, discussing children's worries, and understanding the usefulness of the strategies.
- Parents noted that children today worry more about serious issues like school and family stress.

## Abstract

Parents are primary “supporters” for helping their children cope with feelings of anxiety, a significant concern for many young children. The current study examined parents’ perceptions of an anxiety management manual. Parents reviewed an anxiety coping manual for elementary school-aged children. This manual explained how anxiety influences the body and emotions, as well as presenting cognitive-behavioral anxiety management strategies. The strategies included breathing, imagery (superhero to fight worries and imagine your favorite place), relaxation, talking to supportive others, and using distraction. Convenience samples of 15 parents completed virtual interviews and 6 completed in-person interviews to determine their perceptions of the manual and of worry for today’s children. Qualitative analyses were performed to determine themes in the data. Results indicated that parents would use the manual and key themes, which were (1) learning new strategies for helping their child, (2) discussing children’s worries, and (3) sharing why the worry strategies would be useful (e.g., for emotion regulation). Parents felt that today’s children are worrying more about serious things like school performance and family stressors. Future research needs to examine parent implementation of the strategies over time to determine if the use of anxiety management strategies is related to lower levels of worry for young children, if the strategies reduce anxiety-related stress, and if prevention minimizes the impact of anxiety on emotional functioning.