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Book Review: Anxiety in Children

Book Review: Anxiety in Children 212 Australian Journal of Education Anxiety in Children Ved P. Varma London: Croom Helm, 1984. This book covers a wide variety of subjects related to anxiety in children. There are chapters on anxiety in cross-cultural perspective, family dysfunction and anxiety, anxiety about death, spir­ itual anxiety, anxiety about school and performance, anxiety related to illness and treatment, childhood neurosis and psychotic anxiety in children. To provide a context for those chapters, there are chapters on a psychoanalytic approach to anxiety in childhood-how anxiety may be recognized and monitored by psychological tests and projective techniques and treated by means of psychiatric interview. The reader is provided with a fairly straightforward account of predominantly psychoanalytic views about anxiety in children and about the occurrence and management of anxiety in children in a range of everyday situations. The book's value lies in the heightened levels of awareness and sensitivity it would provide for teachers, counsellors, parents and anyone working closely with children. As might be expected with an edited book of this nature, the various chapters are of uneven quality. The chapters on family dysfunction, on illness and treatment and on anxiety about death provide interesting and practical accounts of situations causing anxiety in children. The chapter on illness and treatment, for instance, provides a most comprehensive account of anxiety asso­ ciated with illness and would be of particular value to parents and those in contact with children in hospital. It contains an excellent discussion of the sources of fears, how children cope with them and their effects on the child's parents. The importance of family relationships is especially discussed and Bowlby's writings on attachment and separation are given considerable promi­ nence.ln the chapter on anxiety about death, the concepts of attachment and separation are used to relate fear, panic and depression to the development of ideas about danger and death. Bowlby's views also provide the starting point for the chapter on anxieties about learning and school but, with this topic, that approach is less than satisfactory. In particular, it means that the extensive literature about the effects of anxiety on learning and performance at school is not considered, nor are ways by which teachers can deal with anxiety in students considered adequately. The main contribution of the book is in its broad treatment of the subject of anxiety in children and in its easy to read style of presentation. The insights and practical suggestions make it a valuable reference for those working with children. Teachers would need to read beyond the book, however, in seeking to gain a fuller understanding of the influence of anxiety on classroom learning and performance and how the debilitating effects of anxiety may be ameliorated. K. SINCLAIR The University of Sydney Government Support for Higher Education and Research: A Critical Study of Patterns, Procedures and Policies J. L. Azad New Delhi: National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, 1984,202 pp. This book will interest Australian scholars and policy makers concerned with the governance and finance of higher education in federal systems. While Dr Azad's review deals only with India, many of the parallels and trends are striking. He sets out to provide an overview of the national patterns, procedures and policies of financing institutions and research in higher education with a view to offering suggestions for improving and streamlining Indian financial policy and procedures. His research instruments were a macro-sample survey of heads of institutions and education experts, together with a micro-level study of higher education finance in four states represen­ tative of the four regions of the country. Despite (or perhaps because of) the support of the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian Journal of Education SAGE

Book Review: Anxiety in Children

Sinclair, K.
Australian Journal of Education , Volume 31 (2): 1 – Aug 1, 1987
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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 1987 Australian Council for Educational Research
ISSN
0004-9441
eISSN
2050-5884
DOI
10.1177/000494418703100211
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

212 Australian Journal of Education Anxiety in Children Ved P. Varma London: Croom Helm, 1984. This book covers a wide variety of subjects related to anxiety in children. There are chapters on anxiety in cross-cultural perspective, family dysfunction and anxiety, anxiety about death, spir­ itual anxiety, anxiety about school and performance, anxiety related to illness and treatment, childhood neurosis and psychotic anxiety in children. To provide a context for those chapters, there are chapters on a psychoanalytic approach to anxiety in childhood-how anxiety may be recognized and monitored by psychological tests and projective techniques and treated by means of psychiatric interview. The reader is provided with a fairly straightforward account of predominantly psychoanalytic views about anxiety in children and about the occurrence and management of anxiety in children in a range of everyday situations. The book's value lies in the heightened levels of awareness and sensitivity it would provide for teachers, counsellors, parents and anyone working closely with children. As might be expected with an edited book of this nature, the various chapters are of uneven quality. The chapters on family dysfunction, on illness and treatment and on anxiety about death provide interesting and practical accounts of situations causing anxiety in children. The chapter on illness and treatment, for instance, provides a most comprehensive account of anxiety asso­ ciated with illness and would be of particular value to parents and those in contact with children in hospital. It contains an excellent discussion of the sources of fears, how children cope with them and their effects on the child's parents. The importance of family relationships is especially discussed and Bowlby's writings on attachment and separation are given considerable promi­ nence.ln the chapter on anxiety about death, the concepts of attachment and separation are used to relate fear, panic and depression to the development of ideas about danger and death. Bowlby's views also provide the starting point for the chapter on anxieties about learning and school but, with this topic, that approach is less than satisfactory. In particular, it means that the extensive literature about the effects of anxiety on learning and performance at school is not considered, nor are ways by which teachers can deal with anxiety in students considered adequately. The main contribution of the book is in its broad treatment of the subject of anxiety in children and in its easy to read style of presentation. The insights and practical suggestions make it a valuable reference for those working with children. Teachers would need to read beyond the book, however, in seeking to gain a fuller understanding of the influence of anxiety on classroom learning and performance and how the debilitating effects of anxiety may be ameliorated. K. SINCLAIR The University of Sydney Government Support for Higher Education and Research: A Critical Study of Patterns, Procedures and Policies J. L. Azad New Delhi: National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, 1984,202 pp. This book will interest Australian scholars and policy makers concerned with the governance and finance of higher education in federal systems. While Dr Azad's review deals only with India, many of the parallels and trends are striking. He sets out to provide an overview of the national patterns, procedures and policies of financing institutions and research in higher education with a view to offering suggestions for improving and streamlining Indian financial policy and procedures. His research instruments were a macro-sample survey of heads of institutions and education experts, together with a micro-level study of higher education finance in four states represen­ tative of the four regions of the country. Despite (or perhaps because of) the support of the

Journal

Australian Journal of Education – SAGE

Published: Aug 1, 1987

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