We all need three things: structure, consistency, and predictability. But these are exactly what the world is lacking right now. We’re in the middle of a national health crisis, and anxiety levels are rising. We all feel it, but children and teens are especially vulnerable to their parents’ moods and can become hypervigilant to changes in their immediate world. Add to this health crisis the fact that many families across the nation are sheltering in place and are facing economic uncertainty, children are home from school, parents are trying to get work done from home, and there is little opportunity to relieve the creeping claustrophobia many families are feeling.
This webinar will examine anxiety in children and teens in these unprecedented times. We will focus on the neurobiology of anxiety, sources of anxiety, and how anxiety is expressed at different points in development. Using research-based behavior management strategies, we will discuss a pathway to family- based interventions that can address children’s and teens’ anxiety-driven behavior and restore some degree of constancy to family life.
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Discuss the brain's reaction to acute and ongoing stress
2. Analyze sources of anxiety for adults, children and teens during this Coronavirus pandemic
3. Describe the differences in how anxiety is expressed in infants, children and teens
4. Name three steps parents can take to manage and reduce the anxiety-driven dysregulated behaviors seen in children and teens.
Presented by Dr. Ira J. Chasnoff
Ira J. Chasnoff, M.D., an award-winning author, researcher and lecturer, is president of NTI Upstream and a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He is one of the nation's leading researchers in the field of child development and the effects of maternal alcohol and drug use on the newborn infant and child. His research projects include a study of the long-term cognitive, behavioral and educational developmental effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs; strategies for screening pregnant women for substance use; the effects on birth outcome of prenatal treatment and counseling for pregnant drug abusers; the effectiveness of both outpatient and residential treatment programs for pregnant drug abusers; and innovative treatment approaches for children affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol or illicit drugs. Dr. Chasnoff led the development and operation of a laboratory preschool classroom to develop specific interventions for children prenatally exposed to alcohol and other drugs and developed a model Head Start Family Service Center for children and their families at risk from drugs and the drug-seeking environment. In addition, Dr. Chasnoff directed one of five national sites conducting research into the integration of behavioral health interventions into primary health care services for high-risk children and their families, and through this project studied the impact of concurrent planning on permanency placement for children in the foster care system. Since 2002, Dr. Chasnoff has been leading cutting edge research into innovative treatment for children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.