Anxiety Checklist for Parents

Some of the following symptoms are typical of children who may have an anxiety disorder. If your answer to several questions on this checklist is yes, discuss the results with a mental health professional. To speak with someone in the NYU Child Study Center's Institute for Anxiety and Mood Disorders, call (212) 236-6622.

• Does your child frequently have a headache or a stomachache before leaving for school?

Yes   No

• Is your child too shy to speak to people not in the immediate family?

Yes   No

• Does your child seem anxious when interacting with her peers?

Yes   No

• Does your child have an unreasonable fear of an object or a situation, such as flying, heights, enclosed places, animals? 

Yes   No

• When your child encounters the feared object of situation, does he react by freezing, clinging, or having a tantrum?

Yes   No

• Does your child avoid or show distress before social situations?

Yes   No

• Does your child experience a high number of nightmares, headaches, or stomachaches?

Yes   No

• Does your child worry excessively about her competence and quality of her performance?

Yes   No

• Has your child experienced a decline in school work, refused to go to school, or avoided after-school social activities?

Yes   No

• Does your child often redo tasks in an effort to be perfect?

Yes   No

• Does your child spend a great deal of time each day doing things over and over again such as hand washing, checking things?

Yes   No

• Does your child experience shortness of breath, lightheadedness, or a pounding heart for no apparent reason?

Yes   No

Reference: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, American Psychiatric Association, 1994

About the NYU Child Study Center

The New York University Child Study Center is dedicated to increasing the awareness of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders and improving the research necessary to advance the prevention, identification, and treatment of these disorders on a national scale. The Center offers expert psychiatric services for children, adolescents, young adults, and families with emphasis on early diagnosis and intervention. The Center's mission is to bridge the gap between science and practice, integrating the finest research with patient care and state-of-the-art training utilizing the resources of the New York University School of Medicine. The Child Study Center was founded in 1997 and established as the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry within the NYU School of Medicine in 2006. For more information, please call us at (212) 263-6622 or visit us at www.AboutOurKids.org.