ANXIETY IN CHILDREN ATTENDING A SPECIALIST INHERITED CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA CLINIC

Anna Last

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Thesis

Abstract

Inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndromes are life threatening conditions. There is a paucity of research examining the psychological impact of these conditions in children.

This study had three main aims. The first was a preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire (CAQ) in a child sample. The second was to compare the level of anxiety of children with an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome and children being screened due to a family history of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome to control children.
The third was to examine the associations between certain clinical variables and levels of anxiety.

47 Children with an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome, 78 children with a family history of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome and 75 control children completed the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), the CAQ and the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI). Children were between the age of 8 and 16.

The study found the CAQ had promising psychometric properties in a child population. There were no significant differences in total anxiety scores (as measured by the RCADS) between the three groups. There were significant differences in cardiac focused anxiety scores (as measured by the CAQ) between the three groups.

Children with an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome had significantly higher total cardiac focussed anxiety scores than children being screened due to a family history of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome and control children. There were no significant differences between children being screened due to a family history of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome and control children. A similar pattern was evident for the CAQ fear scale. A slightly different pattern was evident for the CAQ avoidance scale. Children with an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome scored significantly higher than children being screened due to a family history of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome. There were no significant differences between children being screened due to a family history of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome and control children. There were also no significant differences between children diagnosed with an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome and control children. Contrastingly there were no significant differences in CAQ attention scores between the three groups.

Relevant clinical implications and suggestions for future research are highlighted.


Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Royal Holloway, University of London
Award date1 Nov 2016
Publication statusUnpublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • Children
  • Inherited cardiac arrhythmia

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