Treatment for Anxiety in Children

The purpose of this study is to see if it is effective to treat children with anxiety disorders with fluvoxamine. Fluvoxamine has been successfully used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adults and children. Anxiety disorders other than OCD, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, or separation anxiety, are very common in youth and are not always responsive to behavioral therapies alone. These disorders may respond to fluvoxamine. A child will be evaluated for 3 weeks before he/she is assigned randomly (like tossing a coin) to receive either fluvoxamine or an inactive placebo for 8 weeks. After this double-blind phase (neither the child/parents nor the doctor know which treatment is being given), the child will have the option of continuing treatment during a 4-month open-label extension period (both the child/parents and the doctor know which the child is receiving). A child may be eligible for this study if he/she: Is 6 to 17 years old and has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (i.e., generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, or separation anxiety).