TITLE:          Balance treatment ameliorates anxiety and increases self-
                 esteem in children with comorbid anxiety and balance
disorder (Article,
                 English)
AUTHOR:         Bart, O; Bar-Haim, Y; Weizman, E; Levin, M; Sadeh, A;
                 Mintz, M
SOURCE:         RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 30 (3). MAY-JUN
                 2009. p.486-495 PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, OXFORD

SEARCH TERM(S):  VESTIBULAR*  item_title,keyword,keyword_plus;
                  BALANCE*  item_title,keyword,keyword_plus

KEYWORDS:       Balance; Vestibular; Anxiety; Self-esteem; Children
KEYWORDS+:       DEVELOPMENTAL COORDINATION DISORDER; FEAR SURVEY SCHEDULE;
                 YOUNG-CHILDREN; VESTIBULAR DYSFUNCTION; CONTROL BELIEFS;
                 CLUMSINESS; MOTOR; IMPAIRMENTS; ADOLESCENTS; POPULATION

ABSTRACT:       Comorbidity between balance and anxiety disorders in
adult population is a well-studied clinical entity. Children might be
particularly prone to develop balance-anxiety comorbidity, but
surprisingly they are practically neglected in this field of research.
The consequence is that children are treated for what seems to be the
primary disorder without noticing possible effects on the other disorder.
In Study 1, children with balance dysfunction were compared to normally
balanced controls on anxiety and self-esteem. In study 2, children with
balance dysfunction were assigned to either balance training or a waiting-
list control. Training consisted of 12 weekly sessions of balance
treatment. Anxiety and self-esteem were tested before and after
treatment/waiting. Study I confirmed significantly higher anxiety and
lower self-esteem in the balance dysfunction group compared to the
control group. Study 2 showed that treatment improved balance
performance, reduced anxiety, and increased self-esteem relative to the
control waiting list group. Taken together, the present findings are in
accord with the observations of comorbidity between balance and anxiety
disorders in adults and confirm their validity in children younger than 7
years of age. This profile of comorbidity between balance dysfunction and
anxiety also include lower self-esteem. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.

AUTHOR