Research studies have investigated the presentation and prevalence of anxiety problems in children and found that anxiety is very common among young children. However, there is a substantial gap in research regarding correlates of anxiety problems in this population. Given established research associations between childhood somatisation and anxiety, the current study focused on somatisation as well as anxiety per se in its investigation.
The primary aim of this research was to examine changes over time in anxiety and somatisation in group of children with and without a diagnosis of asthma, using baseline data from an earlier study (Siddons, 2004). The current study also examined parental, psychosocial, and illness related factors associated with anxiety in children.