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Comorbid anxiety disorders are common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, studies comparing children with ASD to clinically anxious children are rare. This study investigated anxiety problems and health-related quality of life in children with high-functioning ASD and comorbid anxiety disorders (referred to as the ASD group), compared with children with anxiety disorders (referred to as the AD group). In total, 237 families participated; 115 children were in the ASD group (90 boys and 25 girls, "M" age = 11.37 years), and 122 children were in the AD group (62 boys and 60 girls, "M" age = 12.79 years). Anxiety disorders, anxiety symptoms, ASD-like symptoms, and health-related quality of life were assessed with the ADIS-C/P, SCARED-71, CSBQ, and EuroQol-5D, respectively. The number and types of anxiety disorders, as well as their severity, were similar in the ASD and AD groups; however, specific phobias were more common in the ASD group than in the AD group. As compared to the AD group, parents from the ASD group reported their children to have higher scores for total anxiety, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. More ASD-like behaviors and higher anxiety severity predicted a lower quality of life, irrespective of group. The results of this study support a highly similar phenotype of anxiety disorders in children with ASD; however, additional research is needed to examine the etiology and treatment effectiveness of anxiety disorders in children with ASD. (Contains 4 tables.)

Attachment theory suggests that children's attachment insecurity plays a key role in the development of anxiety. In the present study we evaluated the empirical evidence for the link between insecure attachment and anxiety from early childhood to adolescence. A meta-analysis of 46 studies, from 1984 to 2010, including 8,907 children, was conducted. The results show an overall effect size of r = 0.30, indicating that attachment is moderately related to anxiety. Moderator analyses indicated that ambivalent attachment showed the strongest association with anxiety. Further, the relation was stronger during adolescence, when attachment and anxiety were measured through questionnaires, when the informant was the child, when attachment was measured as internal working model, in cross-sectional studies, and in studies conducted in Europe. No difference was found between studies that measured anxiety as symptoms or as a disorder, and when different kinds of anxiety were considered. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examined the relation between the Behavioral Inhibition Scale (BIS), a measure that was specifically developed for assessing behavioral inhibition, and behavioral observations of this trait. Children ages 6 to 10 years participated in a series of experimental tasks assessing behavioral features of the inhibited temperament. The parents and teachers of these children completed the BIS. Results showed that the BIS (in particular the parent version) was significantly related to the observational index of behavioral inhibition. An additional aim of the study was to examine the relation between behavioral inhibition as indexed by the BIS and observations, on the one hand, and measures of anxiety symptoms, fear, and behavioral symptoms, on the other hand. As expected, significant correlations between behavioral inhibition indexes and symptoms of anxiety and withdrawal were observed. The BIS is found to be a brief and easy-to-administer instrument, which seems to provide a meaningful first impression of children?s level of behavioral inhibition, and this is particularly true when using the parent version of the BIS.