Effectiveness of a family-focused, cognitive-behaviour relative to treatment as usual for anxiety-disordered children and adolescents.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of family-oriented CBT (FCBT) for child and adolescent anxiety disorders, relative to treatment-as-usual (TAU), in an Australian child and youth mental health service. Empirical research on FCBT for the treatment of child anxiety disorders has predominantly been conducted in controlled research settings with homogenous samples. To date, only one study has evaluated the partial effectiveness of FCBT in a community setting. For this reason, a more comprehensive evaluation of FCBT is required so that contemporary research is effective and applicable to children and adolescents in community clinics. Participants: 29 children and adolescents (9-17 years of age, M age = 14.1, 55% boys) diagnosed with DSM-IV anxiety disorders, and their parents, were quasi-randomly assigned to FCBT plus TAU, or TAU alone. Results: Children in the FCBT condition achieved significantly better outcomes in terms of diagnostic status and severity of primary anxiety diagnosis than those in the TAU condition (42% versus 0% free of primary anxiety diagnosis immediately post-treatment, respectively). This pattern of results was maintained at 6- (FCBT: 58%; TAU: 20%) and 12-month follow-up intervals (FCBT: 63%; TAU: 20%). The two treatment groups demonstrated similar rates of improvement on questionnaire measures. Limitations: Modest sample size which provided inadequate power to detect the full range of intervention effects and missing data.