Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: A Meta‐Analysis

Abstract

We conducted a meta-analysis using 20 randomised controlled studies of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. The mean pre-post effect size was d ¼ 0.94, which was maintained at follow-up. The mean effect size when comparing the CBT and control group was d ¼ 0.61. Within the CBT group, the mean effect size of university clinics (d ¼ 0.77) was larger than that of other clinics (d ¼ 0.37). The difference in effect sizes was hardly noticeable when comparing CBT with family or parents and CBT with child only (d ¼ 0.03). Further studies are required to examine the effectiveness of family CBT versus child CBT.

Evaluating a cognitive behavioral therapy group program for anxious five to seven year old children: a pilot study

“…[6,18,19] Several studies have compared individual CBT to group CBT [20,21,22] in children older than 8 years of age with both individual and group therapies appearing effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders although in one study [21] socially anxious children responded better to individual treatment rather than group treatment. It is important to note, however, that whether individual or group CBT is a better treatment modality is a relatively underresearched area and results to date are far from conclusive.…”

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Children With High-Functioning Autism: A Meta-analysis

“…In typically developing children with anxiety disorders, self-report of anxiety is also less sensitive to treatment change than parent and clinician ratings. For example, the average child self-report was d = 0.36 in 1 meta-analysis 59 and d = 0.44 in the other. 60 Regarding the discrepancy between parent and child reports of anxiety, it is noteworthy that cross-informant disagreements are a norm rather than the exception in assessment of child psychopathology.…”

The Relationship between Parenting and Internalizing Problems in Childhood

“…Principal aims for parental involvement are: removal of parental reinforcement of anxious child behavior, teaching anxiety management skills to parents, and reduction of family conlicts [74]. Reviews [74,76,77] and meta-analyses [73,[78][79][80] have suggested that family-based CBT is eicient for the treatment of childhood anxiety; on the other hand, there are no diferences in the outcomes among individual, group, or family-based treatment [75].…”