Research carried out by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children at NUI Galway has found that ten year old children suffer most from daily worries.
It is also the age that parents say they find most difficult to control these worries.
The study took the responses from 2,227 mothers on their children’s worry patterns, content, frequency and emotional disruption at the ages of seven, ten and 13.
The study revealed that at the age of 13 children find their worries most impacted their ability to perform daily functions and it was mostly present in girls.
It revealed that to understand normal worry patterns you must take the child’s gender and pubertal status into consideration.
The research showed that a child who would experience advanced puberty at the age of ten would more than likely suffer from much higher levels or worry and emotional upset.
The research is said to have helped understand how serious mental health issues can develop at this vulnerable age.
