Eight years later: outcomes of CBT‐treated versus untreated anxious children

Brain and Behavior

Gili W. Adler Nevo¹  David Avery³  Lisa Fiksenbaum²  Alex Kiss¹  Sandra Mendlowitz¹  Suneeta Monga¹ 

[1] University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada;York University, Toronto, ON, Canada;Department of Psychiatry, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

关键词: Adolescents;    anxiety;    children;    cognitive–behavioral therapy;    long‐term follow‐up;    youth;   

DOI  :  10.1002/brb3.274

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Background

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood, generate significant distress, are considered precursors to diverse psychiatric disorders, and lead to poor social and employment outcomes in adulthood. Although childhood anxiety has a significant impact on a child's developmental trajectory, only a handful of studies examined the long-term impact of treatment and none included a control group. The aim of this study was to conduct a long-term follow-up (LTFU) of anxious children who were treated with Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy (CBT) compared to a matched group of children who were not.

Methods

Subjects comprised 120 children: a treatment group which included the first 60 consecutive consenting children who were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and treated with CBT between the years 1997 and 2003 and a control group, 60 matched children who were assessed but not treated with CBT. An “ex-post-facto” design was used to compare the two groups.

Results

Children showed lower rates of anxiety diagnosis (about 50% for both groups) and significantly improved functioning at LTFU (time effect P < 0.0001; no group difference). Anxiety levels were significantly lower in the nontreatment group at LTFU as compared to initial assessment (P = 0.02), but not in the treatment group, and a significant between-group difference was found (P = 0.01) according to child. An inverse relationship was found between self-efficacy/self-esteem and anxiety outcome ([P = 0.0008] and [P = 0.04], respectively).

Conclusions

This study supports the assumption that childhood anxiety disorders may improve without treatment and highlights self-efficacy/self-esteem as potential factors in recovery.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.