School-based Universal Prevention for Anxiety and Depression in Sweden: A Cluster-randomized Trial
Condition: Anxiety Disorders
MeSH terms: Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Mental illness is a major health problem in children and young people, and there is evidence
      that mental illness is increasing among young people in the population. More than 80 % of the
      cost to society of mental illness in children in Sweden is the cost of treatment and care.

      Anxiety and depression are the most common psychiatric problems in children and adolescents.

      In comparison with the treatment of mental disorders, there is relatively limited knowledge
      about prevention. There are at least two very important reasons to investigate further
      preventive interventions for anxiety and depression. (1) Only about 20% of children and
      adolescents with anxiety or depression use health services. (2) Some children stop treatment
      and almost 40% do still fulfill criteria for the disorder after treatment.

      FRIENDS for life is one of the most evaluated prevention programs internationally. The
      program has shown promising results in research. The overall aim of the present study is to
      evaluate FRIENDS for Life in Sweden.
    

Detailed description: 
      Mental illness is a major health problem in children and young people, and there is evidence
      that mental illness is increasing among young people in the population. More than 80 % of the
      cost to society of mental illness in children in Sweden is the cost of treatment and care.
      Only a small portion thus consists of preventive interventions. The report "Programs to
      prevent mental illness in children - a systematic literature review" (2010) from the Swedish
      National Council on Technology Assessment (SBU), concluded that no prevention program has
      evidence of efficacy under Swedish conditions. A target for future prevention work is
      according to the authors SBU-report that programs that are used have scientific support and
      evaluated in Sweden. Based on the review the report's authors recommend that five programs
      should be prioritized for further evaluation. One of these five programs is FRIENDS for life,
      a prevention program to prevent anxiety.

      Anxiety and depression are the most common psychiatric problems in children and adolescents.
      Untreated anxiety disorders often have a chronic course or may occur again and depression in
      adolescents often continue into adulthood anxiety and depression in children and adolescents
      predicts a variety of psychiatric diagnoses later in life, leading to difficulties with
      school and friends, and lead to increased risk of suicidal acts, alcohol and drug abuse.

      In comparison with the treatment of mental disorders, there is relatively limited knowledge
      about prevention. There are at least two very important reasons to investigate further
      preventive interventions for anxiety and depression. (1) Only about 20% of children and
      adolescents with anxiety or depression use health services. (2) Some children stop treatment
      and almost 40% do still fulfill criteria for the disorder after treatment.

      FRIENDS for life is one of the most evaluated prevention programs internationally. The
      program has shown promising results in research. In Sweden there are no high-quality
      evaluation of prevention programs targeting anxiety and depression. Based on the high
      incidence of anxiety and depression and its serious consequences it is of utmost importance
      to investigate whether prevention programs work in a Swedish context. The overall aim of the
      present study is to evaluate FRIENDS for Life in Sweden. The following research questions
      guide the study:

        1. Do FRIEND for life affect children's estimates of anxiety and depression symptoms and
           parents' estimates of children's anxiety symptoms, on the scales Spence Children's
           Anxiety Scale? Is the possible impact still visible after 12 months?

        2. Do FRIEND for life affect the presence of anxiety diagnoses and subclinical anxiety at
           12 months according to ADIS-C/P interview?

           Additional research questions are:

        3. Is there any congruence between parents' and children's estimates of the child's anxiety
           symptoms?

        4. Do FRIEND for life affect parents' and teachers' estimates of children's general mental
           health?

        5. Do gender, symptom level, fidelity to the manual, decreased negative thoughts,
           behavioral inhibition affect the effect of FRIEND for life?

      International studies have shown promising results of FRIEND for life. Previous studies have,
      however, been of varying quality. Strengths of this study are that parents, teachers and
      children are respondents, and it is investigated whether various background characteristics
      and implementation factors influence the effect.

      Given the high prevalence of anxiety and depression in young ages, and the fact that only a
      few children with anxiety and depression use health services, the knowledge that this study
      generates are very important.
    

Intervention name(s): FRIENDS for life
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Friends for life (FFL). The FFL is a prevention program created by professor Paula Barrett, Brisbane, Australia. It is based on cognitive behavioral treatment strategies, for example the link between thoughts and feelings, negative and positive thoughts, breathing and relaxing exercises, support from others, breaking challenging situation in smaller steps, and problem-solving techniques. The children's workbook comprises practice-sheets for use during class, and homework assignments. The group leader manual comprises detailed instructions to all exercises.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: FRIENDS for life; universal prevention; school children; anxiety