WORRY IN NORMAL-CHILDREN

Objective: To investigate worry in a nonclinical sample of children ag ed 8 to 13 years (N= 193). Method: Children were interviewed about the content, characteristics, origins, and severity of their main intense worry. Furthermore, children completed questionnaires to study the re lationship between worry, trait anxiety, and depression. Results: Almo st 70% of the children reported that they worried every now and then. The content of these worries predominantly pertained to school perform ance, dying and health, and social contacts. An examination of the cha racteristics of children's main intense worries revealed that these wo rries occurred on average 2 to 3 days per week, were accompanied by mo dest levels of interference and anxiety, elicited relatively high leve ls of resistance, and were rather difficult to control. A minority of the children were found to exhibit symptoms of worry in the pathologic al range: the percentages of children who met the DSM-III-R criteria o f overanxious disorder and generalized anxiety disorder were 4.7% and 6.2%, respectively. Finally, worry, anxiety, and depression seemed to be strongly related. Conclusion: Worry seems to be a common phenomenon in normal children aged between 8 and 13 years.