Anxiety Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
Anxiety disorders usually start in childhood and adolescence and are associated with social and occupational difficulties in adulthood. Children who have a parent with an anxiety disorder and who find new situations distressing and avoid them are at an increased risk for developing an anxiety disorder. Research suggests that anti-anxiety parenting can help children grow up courageous and calm. It is, however, difficult to parent in an anti-anxiety way when the parent has an anxiety disorder himself or herself. This research study will test the efficacy of a new program designed to prevent the onset or persistence of anxiety disorders in children at risk for anxiety disorders. The investigators will first help parents learn skills to cope with their own anxiety and then coach them to share these skills with their children and parent in an anti-anxiety way. The goal is to intervene early enough in the children's lives so that they can be free of anxiety disorders and lead happy, healthy and productive lives in adulthood.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCognitive behavioural skills training
The intervention will be delivered in two stages: First, the parent with an anxiety disorder will attend between six and sixteen weekly sessions of cognitive behavioural skills training focusing on their own anxiety. They will work on developing behaviours that will help them become less anxious in the long-run and on learning to evaluate danger in a realistic way. Next, the parent will take part in four to eight weekly sessions of anti-anxiety parenting skills training aiming to help them transfer the skills that they learned into parenting their children. In the parenting intervention, the parents will be guided to gradually expose their children to new situations, build communication skills and confidence, in addition to general parenting skills and principles.
Sponsors
Nova Scotia Health Authority
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Parents: Inclusion criteria: Parents will be included if they have a current diagnosis of at least one anxiety disorder, one or more children between the ages two and eight years in their own care, capacity to provide informed consent, and ability to speak English well enough to benefit from the intervention.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) | One year post randomization | Diagnosis of anxiety disorder in the offspring |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 diagnoses (SCID-5) | One year post randomization | Diagnosis of anxiety disorder in the parent |
| Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery | One year post randomization | Temperament in the offspring |
| Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) | Three years post randomization | Diagnosis of major mood and psychotic disorders in offspring |
| Teaching Task Battery | One year post randomization | Parenting behaviours |
| Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders | One year post randomization | Anxiety in the offspring - continuous |
| Spence Children's Anxiety Scale | One year post randomization | Anxiety in the offspring - continuous |
| Global Assessment of Functioning | One year post randomization | Functioning in the offspring |
Countries
Canada
Contacts
Primary ContactBarbara Pavlova, PhD DClinPsy RPsych
Backup ContactJill Cumby, RN
Outcome results
None listed