UCLA CARES Center

Education Professionals and School Communities

Professional Development and Resources

Recognizing Anxiety in a School Setting

Generalized Anxiety

For Professionals:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) occurs when anxiety generalizes (or attaches) itself to anything and everything. People with GAD cannot just turn off the worrying or stop thinking anxious thoughts – if they could switch it off, they would have already. Read more.

For Families:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) often starts in childhood and many of those affected may have never experienced not being anxious or not seeing the world as a dangerous place. As a result, they are more likely than not to anticipate things going poorly, worry about unlikely catastrophes and accidents, and experience physical and mental unease most of the time. Read more.

School Reticence, Avoidance and Refusal

School avoidance can turn into chronic absenteeism. Anxiety is one of many reasons students may stop regularly attending school (or completing their homework). Read more.

Social Anxiety

Social Anxiety can severely limit a student’s academic participation and performance. Social Anxiety doesn’t always look like shyness: it can look like irritability, disinterest, distractedness, or hostility. Learn more.

Test (and Homework and Presentation) Anxiety

Taking tests can be anxiety-provoking for anyone. Test anxiety can get in the way of performing at one’s best. We can think of it as a form of performance anxiety when everything feels it is on the line at one event – whether it’s a big test, a class presentation, or even a homework assignment. Students can use help managing the pre-test stress, the anxiety during the test, and tough thoughts and feelings that might come up after a big test. You may want to include parents in the plan, too. Learn more

Separation Anxiety

Separation Anxiety is an overpowering fear of being separated from caregivers or of harm befalling a loved one. Separation anxiety is often noticed at the beginning of a new school year. This short video explains what separation anxiety looks like in children. Watch video.

Selective Mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder in which a child who speaks regularly in one setting (usually at home) consistently fails to speak in other settings (such as at school or in public). Most children with SM have normal speech and language abilities; therefore, It is most accurately classified as a form of social anxiety. Read more.

If you suspect a student has Selective Mutism, you may want to share this short video with the student’s family, “Selective Mutism Tips for Parents“.

Perfectionism

In the Recognizing and Managing Anxiety in the Classroom course exploring what anxiety looks like in k-12 schools, we also look at what anxiety isn’t. Maya’s story looks at tendencies towards overthinking and perfectionism that can be part of anxiety, but aren’t always. The course helps identify when to seek out more help for a student whose standards get in their own way. ) Read more.

In the article When Doing Their Best Gets in your Child’s Way, Dr. Bergman explains anxiety due to perfectionism can present many different ways. For example, perfectionists may procrastinate doing homework out of fear of a getting a bad grade. If you notice your child avoiding work but not enjoying the down time, they may be actually hiding from the work as opposed to just slacking off. Dr. Bergman even mentions situations where students complete their homework but don’t turn it in due to fear of it not being good enough. Read more.

More School Tools and Information

School-Based Family Workshops

More Resources from CARES

Anxiety Monster Activity

Test Anxiety Tips for Teachers

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Anxiety in Schools

Classroom teachers are often the first to notice that a child is struggling with anxiety. CARES supports teachers, school clinicians, administrators, and entire school communities with science-backed knowledge and practical, developmentally matched strategies across primary and secondary education.

Our Learning Home has free resources for all ages. CARES partners with schools to bring the Tier 1 and 2 training and resources to match each school community’s needs. Our goal is to create anxiety-aware environments for all children, and to enhance the skill sets of those who have devoted themselves to the growth of children everywhere.

Explore our trainings and resources. Reach out to our team to discuss how we can best support the invaluable work you do.