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220 EFFECTS OF STRESSaimed at ameliorating effects of social and biological pressures before they triggerpsychopathology are therefore much needed.A first step toward both the development of prevention tactics and the improvementof treatment methods is clarifying the mechanisms that underlie the onsetand evolution of adolescent anxiety disorders. In particular, it is critical that webetter understand the ways in which social stressors and neural development interactto precipitate symptoms. The present chapter reviews the literature on suchmechanisms as they relate to the development of anxiety in youth. The chapterfirst examines adolescents’ increased risk for anxiety disorders and the roles thatsocial and biological, particularly neural, changes may play in its onset. Subsequently,the focus shifts to alterations in patterns of cognition that are associatedwith adolescent anxiety disorders, as well as their putative underlying neuralmechanisms. Then, the chapter describes an approach to studying the intersectionsamong adolescent psychopathology, emotion and cognition, and underlyingneural substrates. In closing, possible prevention approaches that integrateneuroscience and clinical research are presented.Clinical Perspectives on the AdolescentRisk for Anxiety DisordersAnxiety disorders, although widely prevalent throughout development, have beenrelatively understudied until the past few decades. Studies in youth are particularlysparse, which is surprising given that clinically significant anxiety commonlyaffects this population. Recent epidemiological findings suggest that the medianage of onset for most anxiety disorders is approximately 11 years, with some disorders(e.g., separation anxiety and specific phobias) emerging most commonlyin childhood and others (e.g., social phobia, agoraphobia without panic) more likelyto first appear during adolescence and early adulthood (Kessler et al., 2005).Vulnerability for anxiety disorders appears particularly marked among females,whose lifetime risk is 1.6 times that of males (Kessler et al., 2005). This pattern ofincidence is consistent with the notion that developmental factors contributeheavily to risk for clinically significant anxiety, particularly for anxiety focusedon interpersonal or social content. It also points to the importance of consideringgender as a potential moderator of developmental influences on anxiety onset.Barriers to the Study of Anxiety: Typical VersusPathological AnxietyMany issues clearly contribute to the dearth of research on anxiety; however, lingeringquestions concerning the boundaries between typical and pathologicalanxiety constitute one of the more prominent stumbling blocks. In many circumstances,anxiety and the related emotion “fear” represent adaptive responses to