FRIENDS as an Indicative Prevention Program in Norway

The FRIENDS-program as Indicative Prevention for Children and Adolescents With Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01802424

Enrollment

Registered

2013-03-01

Start date

2012-02-29

Completion date

2014-12-31

Last updated

2015-12-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Anxiety

Keywords

Open trial, Indicative prevention, Youth anxiety, Cognitive behavioral therapy

Brief summary

The purpose of this pilot-study is to evaluate a cognitive behavioral program, the Friends-program, as indicated prevention for anxious youth. The youths are recruited by school nurses who will also lead the intervention groups applying the Friends-manual.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALThe Friends program

The Friends program is a ten weeks group interventions based on principles from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy aimed at ameliorating symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. There are age-specific versions of the manual, one for children 8-12 years and one for adolescents 12-15 years.

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

8 Years to 15 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* subclinical to clinical symptoms of anxiety with or without comorbid symptoms of depression

Exclusion criteria

* previously diagnosed with conduct disorder, major life-crises that needs to be attended to, serious school refusal, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, mental retardation or autism.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Change in anxiety symptoms from baseline to 12 months after completing the FRIENDS program, measured by the Spence Children Anxiety Scale (SCAS)	When completing the intervention and 3months and 12 months after having completed the intervention

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Changes in life-quality (measured by KINDL)from baseline to 12 months after completing the FRIENDS program	When completing the intervention and 3months and 12 months after having completed the intervention
Changes in depressive symptoms (measured by the Short Mood and Feeling questionnaire)from baseline to 12 months after completing the FRIENDS program	When completing the intervention and 3months and 12 months after having completed the intervention
Changes in psychosocial functioning (measured by the Strengths and difficulties questionnaire)from baseline until 12 months after having completed the FRIENDS program	When completing the intervention and 3months and 12 months after having completed the intervention

Countries

Norway

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026