This study will compare the effectiveness of delivering cognitive behavioral therapy for children with anxiety disorders through in-person contact versus through workbooks and telephone communication.
Approximately 13% of adolescents aged 9 to 17 suffer from an anxiety disorder, which can cause disruptive fear, worry, or uneasiness that impairs their normal functioning. These anxiety disorders can include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and they often co-occur with a second anxiety disorder or another mental or behavioral disorder, like depression. Research on interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) indicates that these interventions are helpful to children who suffer from anxiety disorders, but are not always used. This study will examine the feasibility of implementing CBT for children between the ages of 8 and 13 in two different forms: through in-person contact at the pediatric primary care setting and through telephone-based contact. Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to receive either cognitive behavioral therapy in primary care (CBT-PC) or therapist-assisted bibliotherapy in primary care (TAB-PC). In CBT-PC, participants will have therapy administered by a child anxiety specialist, and the parents of participants will learn how to support the new skills their children learn in therapy. In TAB-PC, parents will receive educational workbooks and ongoing support over the phone from a child anxiety specialist to learn how to use CBT skills to manage their children's fears and worries. Participation in this study will last 3 to 4 months, with therapy visits occuring once a week at the beginning and tapering to once every other week at the end of treatment. At pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up, participants will undergo structured clinical interviews to assess their anxiety levels and the severity of their conditions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Children will receive cognitive behavioral therapy from a child anxiety specialist at their doctor's office (the primary care clinic). The children will learn skills to cope with fear and anxiety, and parents will learn how to support their children in using these new skills.
Parents will receive educational workbooks and ongoing support over the phone from a child anxiety specialist to learn how to use cognitive behavioral therapy skills to manage their children's fears and worries.
University of California San Diego
San Diego, California, United States
Clinical Severity Rating on Anxiety Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children for primary anxiety disorder
Time frame: Measured at pre-treatment and post-treatment
Clinical Global Impression scale-Improvement Change
Time frame: Measured at pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up
Screening for Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) parent and child self-report scales
Time frame: Measured at pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.