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Chapter 11 - Attachment, Anxiety Disorders and Experience of Trauma in Children and Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2025

Shermin Imran
Affiliation:
Greater Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
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Summary

This chapter reviews a broad spectrum in Child and Adolescent Mental Health; that of the anxiety disorders. The chapter briefly introduces the concept of attachment and touches on how attachment disorders, and attachment styles evolve. It focuses in on PTSD and C-PTSD, with a particular spotlight on C-PTSD as a new diagnostic concept, and considers its importance in understanding presentations of trauma and emotional dysregulation in children and young people. The chapter also investigates the epidemiology and course of anxiety disorders; and considers the differentiating features of the different presentations. We finish with an overview of interventions, including the rise of computerised approaches in treating the anxiety disorders in young people.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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