JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Early childhood experiences such as trauma, exposure to violence, and poverty can significantly contribute to child anxiety, which is viewed as the most common mental health issue amongst children. In South Africa, there is no uniform tool to screen for anxiety during early childhood. This study will aim to develop a tool to screen for child anxiety amongst 4-8-year olds, which could be utilized by preschool and foundation phase teachers to aid in the early identification of child anxiety.

Objective:

The overall objective for the project is to explore parents and teachers understanding and perceptions of child anxiety and to develop a tool to screen for anxiety in children 4-8 years old

Methods:

This project will use a mixed-method design which will consist of four stages. Stage 1 will consist of a scoping review, data in stage 2 will be collected via semi-structured interviews with 60 participants consisting of parents and teachers and will be thematically analysed. Stage 3 will consist of 20 experts and the researcher collaboratively formulating the proposed screening tool in the form of an e-Delphi. Once the tool is refined, it will be piloted (stage 4) with 20 teachers and data will be analysed using Shapiro-Wilks to test for normality and factor analysis will be done to refine and restructure the tool where necessary. Ethics was obtained from the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee.

Results:

The project was funded in 2020 and 2021. Dates of data collected are projected to start in April 2022 – May 2022 for the qualitative component and July 2022 – December 2022 for the e-Delphi component.

Conclusions:

Anxiety in early childhood has been linked to various repercussions in adolescence and adulthood, such as school dropout, substance abuse, anxiety disorders and depression, and suicide ideation. Therefore, identifying the presence of anxiety earlier on and providing the necessary referral services could assist in reducing the negative consequences related to unidentified and untreated anxiety in early childhood.