Avoiding scary situations could be a sign of anxiety
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013 10:47 AM

If adults go through their days feeling overly anxious, they may want to take a personality test to gain more insight into their behavior. Sometimes, small behavioral signs can also help identify people who are likely to develop anxiety. This is the case with individuals between the ages of 7 and 18, according to new research from the Mayo Clinic.

After conducting a study of more than 800 individuals, researchers found that kids' avoidance of situations they find scary may predict whether or not they will have anxiety. Participants who were open about avoiding certain situations at the beginning of the study tended to be more anxious just one year later.

"Even after controlling for their baseline anxiety, those who avoided had more anxiety than kids who didn't avoid," said Stephen Whiteside, a pediatric psychologist with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center, as well as the study's lead author. "That was consistent with the model of how anxiety disorders develop. Kids who avoid fearful situations don't have the opportunity to face their fears and don't learn that their fears are manageable."

While anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness in the U.S., the good news is they are highly treatable, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.