Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Parental Involvement for Treating Children With Anxiety Disorders
Condition: Anxiety Disorders
MeSH terms: Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study will compare the effectiveness of individual cognitive behavioral therapy with two
      distinct types of parent involvement versus individual cognitive behavioral therapy without
      parent involvement in treating children with anxiety disorders. Hypothesized mediator of
      change for eac of the two parent treatment conditions also will be evaluated
    

Detailed description: 
      Anxiety disorders are among the most common emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders in
      children, affecting an estimated 1 out of every 10 children and adolescents. Symptoms of
      anxiety disorders include an excessive sense of worry, stress, and fear; headache; nausea;
      and impaired learning and concentration. If left untreated, anxiety disorders can lead to
      difficulties with school and relationships, substance abuse, and the persistence of anxiety
      problems into adulthood. Individual cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT), in which children
      learn to cope with fears through behavior and thought modification, has been an effective
      form of treatment for children with anxiety disorders. Studies have indicated that ICBT
      involving children and parents may be more effective than ICBT involving only children for
      improving anxiety levels and long-term recovery rates. This study will compare the
      effectiveness of ICBT with either parent reinforcement training or parent relationship
      training versus ICBT without parent involvement in treating children with anxiety disorders.

      Participation in this study will last 15 months, with 3 months of treatment and 12 months of
      follow-up. Both parent and child participants will first undergo initial assessments that
      will include psychological questionnaires; a video-taped child-parent interaction session;
      and interviews about behaviors, psychological functioning, and problem situations.
      Participants will then be assigned randomly to one of three treatment groups: ICBT, ICBT with
      parent reinforcement training (PRT1), or ICBT with parent relationship training (PRT2). All
      participants will attend between 12 and 14 weekly treatment sessions, lasting 60 minutes
      each. During all sessions, child participants will learn how to change anxious and fearful
      thoughts and to deal with feared objects and events. ICBT PRT1 and ICBT PRT2 sessions will
      also involve the parent and child working together. ICBT PRT1 will specifically teach the
      parent strategies for managing the child's behavior through the use of positive rewards and
      positive parental behaviors to help discourage child avoidant behaviors. ICBT PRT2 will
      specifically teach the parent ways to communicate with the child and to solve problems to
      help discourage child avoidant behaviors.

      All participants will be asked to complete questionnaires throughout treatment, upon
      completion of treatment, and 6 months after the end of treatment. Three and 9 months after
      the end of treatment, participants will undergo a 15-minute telephone assessment to evaluate
      how the child participant has been doing. The final assessment will occur 12 months after the
      end of treatment and will include repeat interviews and questionnaires.
    

Intervention name(s): Individual cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT); Parent relationship training (PRT2) With Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ICBT); Parent reinforcement training (PRT1) With Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ICBT)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): ICBT will include 12 to 14 sessions during which child participants will learn how to change anxious and fearful thoughts and to deal with feared objects and events.; Parent relationship training will teach the parent ways to communicate with the child and to solve problems to help discourage child avoidant behaviors. ICBT will include 12 to 14 sessions during which child participants will learn how to change anxious and fearful thoughts and to deal with feared objects and events.; Parent reinforcement training will teach the parent strategies for managing the child's behavior through the use of positive rewards and positive parental behaviors to help discourage child avoidant behaviors. ICBT will include 12 to 14 sessions during which child participants will learn how to change anxious and fearful thoughts and to deal with feared objects and events.
Other intervention name(s): CBT
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Mediation; Outcome; CBT; Child Anxiety Intervention