None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Anxiety disorders in children are prevalent, understudied, and underreported phenomena. Despite well-documented efficacy of treatments for child anxiety, research into the prevention of these disorders remains comparatively limited. An inhibited temperament style has been identified as an early life predictor of the anxiety disorders. Behavioural Inhibition (BI) is defined in terms of reactions of withdrawal, wariness, avoidance and shyness in novel, unfamiliar situations. The findings from our research suggests that inhibited children are significantly more likely than uninhibited children to have an anxiety disorder at baseline and also more likely to develop an anxiety disorder over time. Other factors, such as parenting style, maternal anxiety and interpretation bias also increase the risk for anxiety in this population. In this study we will examine the efficacy of an intervention program aimed at reducing anxiety and risk for future anxiety in BI preschool children by focusing on BI and family environment risk factors.
Interventions
Therapy will be based on the COOL KIDS treatment program (Rapee, Wignall, Hudson and Schniering, 2000)] 5 x 1 hour sessions delivered in individual format over 8 weeks (fortnight between sessions 3,4 and 5) . Treatment includes parents and child.
The cognitive behavioural intervention includes the following components:
Parent training (training parents to encourage brave behaviour, reduce parent overprotection and parental anxiety)
Exposure (gradually step-by-step facing the child's feared situ
Therapy will be based on the COOL KIDS treatment program (Rapee, Wignall, Hudson and Schniering, 2000)] 5 x 1 hour sessions delivered in individual format over 8 weeks (fortnight between sessions 3,4 and 5) . Treatment includes parents and child. The cognitive behavioural intervention includes the following components: Parent training (training parents to encourage brave behaviour, reduce parent overprotection and parental anxiety) Exposure (gradually step-by-step facing the child's feared situations) Cognitive restructuring (providing skills for parents and children to reduce threat based thoughts). Each participant in the intervention group will receive all three components.
Sponsors
Macquarie University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
42 Months to 54 Months
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Inhibited temperament: Children scoring one standard deviation above the mean on the Approach scale of the Children's Temperament Questionnaire
Exclusion criteria
Inability to speak and comprehend English. Participants receiving ongoing treatment for mental health related concerns.
Outcome results
None listed