Anxiety disorders are prevalent in school-aged children and may lead to difficulties in academic and interpersonal functioning. The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate treatment approaches for anxious children. The proposed study is for 9-13 year-old children identified as overanxious, separation anxiety, or avoidant disorder. The research will compare a cognitive-behavioral treatment program with a waiting-list control. An ancillary purpose of the present proposal is to assess the cognitive features involved in child anxiety and to develop relevant cognitive assessment strategies. Children who are referred by mental health professionals to the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic will be screened for inclusion using a structured diagnostic interview. Those children who are diagnosed anxiety disordered will be randomly assigned to one of the conditions. All children will receive 15 weekly 55 minute sessions. The focus of the cognitive- behavioral treatment will be on four major components: 1. recognizing anxious thoughts and somatic reactions to anxiety. 2. clarifying cognitions in anxiety provoking situations. 3. developing a plan to cope with the situation. 4. evaluating the performance and self-reinforcement as appropriate. Behavioral techniques such as modeling, role play, relaxation and contingent reinforcement will be used. The waiting-list control condition will be administered the same measures as the children at the beginning and the end of the treatment period to control for treatment expectancies and the transience of anxiety. Treatment effects will be analyzed through a repeated measures (treatment conditional) * (assessment periods) mixed factorial ANOVA. Since dependent measures are highly interrelated, MANOVA will be used for same-method measures. ANCOVA will be used in the event of pretreatment differences. The assessment battery consists of children's self-report measures (RCMAS, STAIC, FSSC-R, CDI), parent and teacher measures (CBCL), cognitive assessment (CASSQ), and behavioral observations in an interview situation. Other measures, such as the child's perception of the therapeutic relationship (CPTR), the therapist's report of the child's compliance with homework, and a rating of the child's parent's perception of the child's coping skills will be examined. Client characteristics, pretreatment variables, and process variables will be examined in relation to outcome. The same battery will be used at 1 year follow-up. The diagnosis of specific anxiety disorders will be used to examine differential responsiveness of these disorders to the treatments.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH044042-02
Application #
3383476
Study Section
Treatment Development and Assessment Research Review Committee (TDA)
Project Start
1989-09-01
Project End
1992-03-31
Budget Start
1990-09-01
Budget End
1992-03-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1990
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Temple University
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19122
Wolk, Courtney Benjamin; Kendall, Philip C; Beidas, Rinad S (2015) Cognitive-behavioral therapy for child anxiety confers long-term protection from suicidality. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 54:175-9
Chu, Brian C; Kendall, Philip C (2009) Therapist responsiveness to child engagement: flexibility within manual-based CBT for anxious youth. J Clin Psychol 65:736-54
Panichelli-Mindel, Susan M; Flannery-Schroeder, Ellen; Kendall, Philip C et al. (2005) Disclosure of distress among anxiety-disordered youth: differences in treatment outcome. J Anxiety Disord 19:403-22
Chu, Brian C; Kendall, Philip C (2004) Positive association of child involvement and treatment outcome within a manual-based cognitive-behavioral treatment for children with anxiety. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:821-9
Southam-Gerow, Michael A; Flannery-Schroeder, Ellen C; Kendall, Philip C (2003) A psychometric evaluation of the parent report form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children--Trait Version. J Anxiety Disord 17:427-46
Southam-Gerow, Michael A; Weisz, John R; Kendall, Philip C (2003) Youth with anxiety disorders in research and service clinics: examining client differences and similarities. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 32:375-85
Southam-Gerow, Michael A; Kendall, Philip C (2002) Emotion regulation and understanding: implications for child psychopathology and therapy. Clin Psychol Rev 22:189-222
Southam-Gerow, M A; Kendall, P C; Weersing, V R (2001) Examining outcome variability: correlates of treatment response in a child and adolescent anxiety clinic. J Clin Child Psychol 30:422-36
Southam-Gerow, M A; Kendall, P C (2000) A preliminary study of the emotion understanding of youths referred for treatment of anxiety disorders. J Clin Child Psychol 29:319-27
Kendall, P C; Chu, B C (2000) Retrospective self-reports of therapist flexibility in a manual-based treatment for youths with anxiety disorders. J Clin Child Psychol 29:209-20

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