NCJ Number
213522
Journal
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 45 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 314-321
Date Published
March 2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study compared the effectiveness of family-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children with anxiety disorders, which is used in the Building Confidence Program, with traditional child-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Abstract
The study found that compared with child-focused CBT, family-focused CBT was associated with greater improvement in the ratings of independent evaluators and parent reports of child anxiety after treatment; however, children's self-reports did not differ significantly between groups. Both treatment groups showed improvement on all outcome measures, but family CBT may provide additional benefit compared with child-focused CBT. The findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of the Building Confidence Program and encourage further research on parental participation in treatment for childhood anxiety. The study involved 40 clinically anxious children (6-13 years old), who were randomly assigned to a family-focused or a child-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy. Conditions were matched for therapist contact time. Both interventions included training in coping skills, their application, and practice. In addition, the family CBT intervention included parent communication training. Independent evaluators, parent reports, and child reports were used to assess child anxiety symptoms before and after treatment. These measures of treatment effectiveness have been proven valid and reliable. 2 tables and 27 references