Childhood anxiety disorders.

Although anxiety is among the most common psychiatric problems faced by children and adolescents, anxiety disorders have been a relatively neglected research topic in comparison to childhood disruptive behavior and depressive disorders. Recent epidemiologic data have brought increasing attention to these impairing disorders. A review of these data is provided, and results from recent studies on the genetics, biology, and treatment of childhood anxiety disorders are integrated with a discussion of directions for future research. The data reviewed here point both to our growing understanding of childhood anxiety and to the need for continued research to address significant shortcomings in our knowledge base.