Anxiety and Anxiety-Coping in Children's Picture Books

Abstract

The contribution of this study is to provide an understanding of how picture books educate young children on the common experiences of anxiety. This qualitative study used thematic analysis to analyze 82 English children’s picture books for infants and young toddlers (0 to 5 years old) that were published in 2020. Picture books in this sample portray anxiety in a way that match with the clinical knowledge of childhood anxiety in terms of characterization and signs of anxiety. This study identified five major themes of anxiety-eliciting situations, namely schools, bad things happen, being alone, health and diversity. The findings of this study also include themes and patterns of coping strategies that were used by the protagonists; finding comfort, inhibiting emotions, solving problems, recognizing and expressing emotions and culturally-related strategies are the five themes that summarize the coping strategies found in this sample. Across all types of anxiety-eliciting situations, finding comfort is the most frequently presented coping strategy. This study holds implications for caregivers, teachers and clinicians, through which they can have an idea of how anxiety is presented in some recently published children’s picture books in their use of the books for educational or clinical purposes. Publishers may also take reference on the gaps noted in this study to diversify the content of anxiety-related picture books.