Malgorzata Dabkowska

By Malgorzata Dabkowska, Aleksander Araszkiewicz, Agnieszka Dabkowska and Monika Wilkosc

Part of the book: Different Views of Anxiety Disorders

By Malgorzata Dabkowska and Agnieszka Dabkowska-Mika

Anxiety disorders are common; lifetime prevalence for the group of disorders is estimated to be as high as 25%. The main question is What is the relative contribution of genetics and environment to etiology of anxiety disorders? The anxiety disorders are not, from a genetic perspective, etiologically homogeneous. Structural equation modeling provides estimates of variance in liability to a disorder that is attributable to additive genetic, common familial environmental, and individual-specific environmental factors. Familial aggregation that largely results from genetic risk factors has been documented for all of the major anxiety disorders. Genes predispose to two broad groups of disorders dichotomized as panic-generalized-agoraphobic anxiety versus specific phobias. The candidate genes are the ones encoding the central and peripheral nervous system receptors and transporters. Trauma in childhood disposes to further anxiety disorders through the hyperactivity of the HPA axis and the hypersecretion of CRF. Traumatic experience in developmental age leads to neurobiochemical changes in brain, typical for panic disorder or PTSD. Behavioral inhibition in early childhood is a predictor of further anxiety disorders. Some types of parental behaviors and family environment can lead to them, as well as improper interactions between parents and child.

Part of the book: A Fresh Look at Anxiety Disorders

By Malgorzata Dąbkowska, Anna Kobierecka-Dziamska and Monika Prusaczyk

COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge that affects people’s mental health worldwide. Experiencing anxiety by children and adolescents, who are vulnerable to the impact of sustained stressors during developmentally sensitive periods, can lead to long-lasting effects on their health. The article brings insight into the short and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the children and adolescents’ mental health. The particular aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between anxiety, stress, and resilience in young individuals in the context of COVID-19. A review of the psychological effects of pandemic on children and adolescents was done using electronic databases. Most reviewed studies reported risk factors of psychosocial problems among children and adolescents during pandemics, resilience and positive coping as protective factors for the occurrence of anxiety and stress symptoms, and mediating role of parents’ stress impact on children’s behavioral and emotional problems. Clinical implications are discussed and additional research is suggested.

Part of the book: Anxiety, Uncertainty, and Resilience During the Pandemic Period

By Malgorzata Dabkowska and Agnieszka Dabkowska-Mika

Children with separation anxiety disorder (SAD) experience unrealistic fear of being separated from their significant caregivers (mostly parents). The occurrence of pathological separation anxiety is determined by many factors: parental attitudes, their mental and physical health, but also the way of perceiving the environment, traumatic events in the child’s family and life, as well as genetic and individual effects. Pandemic situation and related isolation caused change in the current lifestyle. Both psychological (i.e. the novelty of the social situation, negative information in the mass media, fear of their own live and their loved ones) and daily-life routine disturbances (i.e. the closure of schools and restrictions of contacts with peers, limited contacts with distant family members, remote work of parents) generate difficulties for children and can contribute anxiety among children with SAD. Paradoxically, despite the fact that children and adolescents are at home, the COVID-19 pandemic may intensify SAD, exacerbating factors underlying separation anxiety. It turns out that family social isolation can escalate conflicts. This, in turn, adversely affects relationships between family members and can reduce children’s sense of security. Due to pandemic problematic access to specialized health care, especially personal contact with a psychotherapist, children with SAD suffer from insufficient professional help.

Part of the book: Anxiety, Uncertainty, and Resilience During the Pandemic Period