Longitudinal Examination of Anxiety Levels in Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a rare,highly variable,genetic neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a mutation on chromosome 17 and characterized by elevated levels of executivefunctioning, attention, and emotional/social functioningdifficulties. Previous research has indicated that children with NF1 experience higher overall anxiety than the normative population. However, research on anxiety is limited and calls for more examination to better understand the reported elevated rates of anxiety within the NF1 population. This longitudinal study seeks to analyze change in patterns of anxiety from a period of early development (ages 3-9)to pre-adolescence(ages 9-12). Within the sample,increasedlevels of anxietyover time are expected.Parents of 22 children with NF-1 completedeither the PreschoolAnxiety Scale (PAS), ortheSpenceChildren\u27s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), depending on the child\u27s age,over multiple annual assessments to determine levels of anxiety. Correlational tests, within-subjectpaired T-tests, and frequency statistics will be performed to ascertain correlated patterns across examinations, changes in anxiety scores over time, and the frequency of elevated scores within the sample