Priming behaviour

Research suggests letting children feel in control of their environment is vital for building confidence and decreasing anxiety. Children need the chance to problem-solve on their own. If you always step in to help, you're effectively saying that your child can't do it.

How...

Fears are a normal part of a child's life. Children are afraid of the dark, or spiders or nurses. They worry about making friends or being separated from their parents. However, some children have more trouble managing their fears.

While researchers don't know why childhood anxiety might be...

There is a growing epidemic of anxiety among youth today. Children feel stressed about almost everything because they are overtested or helicopter-parented or spend all their time online.

However, research proposes some strategies parents can use to recognise and relieve or prevent ...

Masking a fear does not mean one should pretend you're not afraid of anything. Researchers state that pretending that you never get scared shows a child that it is 'weird' to be fearful of something.

It may be more useful for parents to share how they cope with their own fears

To ease anxiety in kids, a parent can try not to be overbearing. For example, don't constantly spot your child on the climbing frame or to tell her to be careful every time she climbs out of the bathtub, even if she can do it reasonably safely.

This negative intervening can...