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Increasing access to evidence-based treatment for child anxiety problems: online parent-led CBT for children identified via schools.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Change log

Authors

Green, Iheoma 
Button, Roberta 
Williamson, Victoria 
Halliday, Gemma 

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Anxiety problems are extremely common and have an early age of onset. We previously found, in a study in England, that fewer than 3% of children with an anxiety disorder identified in the community had accessed an evidence-based treatment (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; CBT). Key ways to increase access to CBT for primary school-aged children with anxiety problems include (a) proactive identification through screening in schools, (b) supporting parents and (c) the provision of brief, accessible interventions (and capitalising on technology to do this). METHOD: We provided a brief, therapist guided treatment called Online Support and Intervention (OSI) to parents/carers of children identified, through school-based screening, as likely to have anxiety problems. Fifty out of 131 children from 17 Year 4 classes in schools in England screened positive for 'possible anxiety problems' and 42 (84%) of these (and 7 who did not) took up the offer of OSI. We applied quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess children's outcomes and families' experiences of this approach. RESULTS: Inbuilt outcome monitoring indicated session on session improvements throughout the course of treatment, with substantial changes across measures by the final module (e.g. Child Outcome Rating Scale d = 0.84; Goal Based Outcomes d = 1.52). Parent engagement and satisfaction was high as indicated by quantitative and qualitative assessments, and intervention usage. CONCLUSIONS: We provide promising preliminary evidence for the use of OSI as an early intervention for children identified as having anxiety problems through school-based screening.

Description

Funder: National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100019219


Funder: National Institute for Health Research Oxford and Thames Valley ARC

Keywords

CBT, Child, anxiety, digital, intervention, parents, Humans, Child, Anxiety Disorders, Parents, Schools, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Anxiety

Journal Title

Child Adolesc Ment Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1475-357X
1475-3588

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G108/625)