HONOLULU — Anxious children who participated in a 9-week course of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) maintained improvements for at least 4 years.
The study involved 61 children, aged 7-11 years, all of whom had features of separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and/or social phobia. Dr. Gail A. Bernstein of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and colleagues randomized the children. In one group, patients received a 9-week manual and workbook-based CBT intervention using the FRIENDS for Life. The second arm received the CBT intervention and their parents participated in a 9-week program based on FRIENDS. Children in the third arm received no treatment.
At 4 years, 43% of children in the control group showed remission of their primary anxiety diagnoses, a significantly smaller proportion than the children in the CBT group (75%) or the children in the CBT plus parent training group (76%).
The National Institute of Mental Health, the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center, and the Minnesota Medical Foundation funded the study.