34 • PART i: A ModEl foR SElf-REgulATion And EngAgEMEnT
seated, may talk excessively, blurt out answers, and interrupt others (APA, 2013). Often
these symptoms are associated with school failure and difficulties with peer relationships
(APA, 2013). According to the APA (2013), the prevalence is about 5% among children.
Interestingly, Merikangas et al. (2010) found the prevalence rate at ages 15 to 16 to be 8.6%.
Beyond school challenges and peer relationship problems, there can be personal and public
safety concerns. To illustrate the public safety dangers of attention and impulsivity diffi-
culties, according to the YRBSS, during the 30 days before the survey, 41.4%, of the 64.7%
of the students who drove a car reported texting or e-mailing while driving (Kann et al.,
2014). A study by Winston, McDonald, and McGehee (2014) found that adolescents with
ADHD were at significantly increased risk for negative driving outcomes. Although pre-
vention is less likely to be an approach for a neurological-based condition, early and ongo-
ing school interventions can help. Children with attention difficulties, impulsivity, and
ADHD have been found to respond to mindful and yoga interventions (e.g., Serwacki &
Cook-Cottone, 2012).
Anxiety
The leading condition experienced by children and adolescents, anxiety disorders have a
cumulative prevalence among children at a rate of 32.1% by the ages of 15 to 16 (Merikangas
et al., 2010). In a school of 1,000, that is 321 students. In its most common form, anxiety
can be a feeling or experience that a student has about day-to-day challenges, such as
taking a test, typical family problems, or speaking in front of the class. There is also a set
of anxiety disorders that features persistent, excessive fear and anxiety, which is connected
with behavior that can interfere with individual well-being, school success, and relation-
ships (APA, 2013). Specific anxiety disorders include: separation anxiety (i.e., fear of being
separated from those to whom one is attached), selective mutism (i.e., a consistent failure to
speak in social situations such as school, in which one is expected to speak), specific phobia
(i.e., fear regarding a specific object or situation), social anxiety (i.e., fear about social situ-
ations in which one feels he or she might be under the scrutiny of others), panic disorder
(i.e., recurrent panic attacks), agoraphobia (i.e., fear associated with public transportation,
open spaces, enclosed places, crowds, or being outside of the home alone), and generalized
anxiety (i.e., excessive fear or worry without the sense that one can control it; APA, 2013).
Current treatments are finding small-to-medium effect sizes when compared to controlled
conditions (Reynolds, Wilson, Austin, & Hooper, 2012). Prevention and school support are
our best line of action.
Posttraumatic Stress disorder (PTSd)
Up to 5% of adolescents ages 13 to 18 report clinical-level PTSD, with higher rates
among females (8.0%) than males (2.3%; Merikangas et al., 2010). Specifically, PTSD involves
exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, either by directly
experiencing the event, witnessing the event, or learning of the event occurring to someone
emotionally close (APA, 2013). Also, PTSD may be the result of repeated or extreme exposure
to the details of a traumatic event (APA, 2013). Those who have clinical-level PTSD often have
recurrent, intrusive, and distressing memories of the trauma. They may have trauma-related
dreams. Those with PTSD may also have dissociative reactions and flashbacks—feeling