Practitioner review: health anxiety in children and young people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Open accessAbstract
Health-related fear is a normal and common response in the face of the global pandemic of COVID-19. Children and young people are frequently being exposed to messages about the threat to health, including from the media and authorities. Whilst for most, their anxiety will be proportionate to the threat, for some, existing pre-occupation with physical symptoms and illness will become more problematic. There is a growing body of evidence that health anxiety may occur in childhood, however much of the literature is taken from research using adult samples. This practitioner review aims to give an overview of the assessment and treatment of health-related worries in children and young people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review is based on the limited existing evidence in this population and the more substantial evidence base for treating health anxiety in adults. We consider the adaptations needed to ensure such interventions are developmentally appropriate.
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Research examining the prevalence of health anxiety using diagnostic criteria suggests that very few children meet full diagnostic criteria, leading researchers to argue that this could be due to a lack of appropriate descriptions of how severe health anxiety presents in children and youth.
“However, research examining the prevalence of health anxiety using diagnostic criteria suggests that very few children meet full diagnostic criteria [18, 91, 92], leading researchers to argue that this could be due to a lack of appropriate descriptions of how severe health anxiety presents in children and youth [93].”
From Illness Anxiety Disorder: A Review of the Current Research and Future Directions (2024) · cites this paper as [93]
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References 101 · Cited by 84
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Silverman, W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule: ADIS-IV Child Interview Schedule (vol. 2). Graywind Publications.
- Taylor, S. (2019). Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- World Health Organization (WHO) (2020b, 11 March). Virtual press conference on COVID-19 https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/transcripts/who-audio-emergencies-coronavirus-press-conference-full-and-final-11mar2020.pdf?sfvrsn=cb432bb3_2
- Authors
- Haig-Ferguson, A., Cooper, K., Cartwright, E., Loades, M. E., & Daniels, J.
- Affiliations
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University of Bath (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Cooper, K.
- Venue
- Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2020-09-18
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-143
- ISSN
- 1352-4658 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1833
- PMC
- PMC7503041
- OpenAlex
- W3049414884
- Cited by
- 84
- References
- 101
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Pure (University of Bath) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (ICA-CDRF-2018-04-ST2-047, DRF-2016-09-021)
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Keywords
- health anxiety, children and young people, COVID-19 pandemic, media exposure, somatic symptoms
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Child, Humans, Pandemics
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