Miller, Lynn D., Short, Christina, Garland, E. Jane, Clark, Sandra

The ABCs of CBT (cognitive behavior therapy): Evidence-based approaches to child anxiety in public school settings

This study evaluated a locally developed cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) intervention program in a public elementary school. In the prevention approach, 118 children were randomly assigned either to an 8-week intervention or to a wait-list control. Results of statistical analysis indicated that the manualized CBT intervention did not reduce symptoms of anxiety on either self-reports or parent reports of anxiety symptoms in the general school population. Challenges to translational efforts to public school settings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)

Journal of Counseling & Development, 88(4) : 432-439

Lau, W. Y., Chan, C. K. Y., Li, J. C. H., Au, T. K. F.

Effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral treatment for childhood anxiety in community clinics

This study evaluated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment for childhood anxiety in a community clinic setting in Hong Kong, China. Forty-five clinically-referred children (age 6-11 years) were randomly assigned to either a cognitive-behavioral treatment program or a waitlist-control condition. Children in the treatment condition showed significant reduction in anxiety symptoms-both statistically and clinically- whereas children in the waitlist condition did not. After the waitlist period was over, the control group also received the treatment program and showed a similar reduction in symptoms. For the full sample of 45 children, the effectiveness of the intervention was significant immediately after treatment and in 3- and 6-month follow-ups. In addition, children's anxiety cognition and their ability to cope with anxiety-provoking situations fully mediated the treatment gains. These results offer empirical support for cognitive-behavioral treatment programs in a non-Western cultural context and plausible mediators for how cognitive-behavioral therapy works. (copyright) 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Behaviour Research & Therapy, 48(11) : 1067-1077

Liehr, P., Diaz, N.

A pilot study examining the effect of mindfulness on depression and anxiety for minority children

Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 24(1) : 69- 71

Hakamata, Yuko, Lissek, Shmuel, Bar-Haim, Yair, Britton, Jennifer C., Fox, Nathan A., Leibenluft, Ellen, Ernst, Monique, Pine, Daniel S.

Attention bias modification treatment: A meta-analysis toward the establishment of novel treatment for anxiety

Background: Methods: Results: Conclusions: Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) is a newly emerging, promising treatment for anxiety disorders. Although recent randomized control trials (RCTs) suggest that ABMT reduces anxiety, therapeutic effects have not been summarized quantitatively.Standard meta-analytic procedures were used to summarize the effect of ABMT on anxiety. With MEDLINE, January 1995 to February 2010, we identified RCTs comparing the effects on anxiety of ABMT and quantified effect sizes with Hedge's d.Twelve studies met inclusion criteria, including 467 participants from 10 publications. Attention Bias Modification Treatment produced significantly greater reductions in anxiety than control training, with a medium effect (d = .61, p < .001). Age and gender did not moderate the effect of ABMT on anxiety, whereas several characteristics of the ABMT training did.Attention Bias Modification Treatment shows promise as a novel treatment for anxiety. Additional RCTs are needed to fully evaluate the degree to which these findings replicate and apply to patients. Future work should consider the precise role for ABMT in the broader anxiety-disorder therapeutic armamentarium.\rCopyright © 2010 Society of Biological Psychiatry. All rights reserved.

Biological Psychiatry, 68(11) : 982- 990

Kemp, M., Drummond, P., McDermott, B.

A wait-list controlled pilot study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from motor vehicle accidents

The present study investigated the efficacy of four EMDR sessions in comparison to a six-week wait-list control condition in the treatment of 27 children (aged 6 to 12 years) suffering from persistent PTSD symptoms after a motor vehicle accident. An effect for EMDR was identified on primary outcome and process measures including the Child Post-Traumatic Stress-Reaction Index, clinician rated diagnostic criteria for PTSD, Subjective Units of Disturbance and Validity of Cognition scales. All participants initially met two or more PTSD criteria. After EMDR treatment, this decreased to 25% in the EMDR group but remained at 100% in the wait-list group. Parent ratings of their child's PTSD symptoms showed no improvement, nor did a range of non-trauma child self-report and parent-reported symptoms. Treatment gains were maintained at three and 12 month follow-up. These findings support the use of EMDR for treating symptoms of PTSD in children, although further replication and comparison studies are required.

Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 15(1) : 5- 25

Karbasi, A., Arman, S., Maracy, M. R.

The efficacy of attendance and semi-attendance group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on the anxiety disorders of adolescent girls

Background: Anxiety disorders are one of the most psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents that can cause long life functional disability. The first line treatment for this disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy that has primary, secondary and tertiary preventive effect, but is expensive and long time. Today there is some effort to find short term, group, semi-attendance and low cost therapies. Methods: Subjects were 42 girls (12- 17 y) with at least one anxiety disorder according to DSM-IV-TR with their parents who were divided into two groups randomly: group A which participated in 8 sessions and group B which participated in 4 sessions and the contents of sessions 3, 4, 6, and 7 were recorded on a CD for them. The tests used in this study were: SCARED, CATS, CAIS-C, CAIS-P, conducted before (T0), just after (T1) and three months after the treatment (T2). The collected data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance test using SPSS software package, version 15.0. Results: There was no significant difference between efficacy of semi-attendance group CBT and attendance group CBT in T0, T1 and T2 according to 4 tests (p = 0.311). The difference between the scores of these tests between T0 andT1 and T0 and T2 was significant in both groups (p < 0.001) but the difference between T1 and T2 was not significant. (p = 0.771). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of semi-attendance group CBT and attendance group CBT is similar and would sustain after 3 months.

Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 15(5) : 1- 8

Christensen, H., Pallister, E., Smale, S., Hickie, I. B., Calear, A. L.

Community-based prevention programs for anxiety and depression in youth: A systematic review

Little is known about the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention programs for young people and adolescents once they leave or dropout from school. The effectiveness of 18 anxiety and 26 depression studies addressing prevention in community programs were identified using systematic review methodology. Anxiety and depression symptoms were reduced in ~60% of the programs. Cognitive behavioral therapy programs were more common than other interventions and were consistently found to lower symptoms or prevent depression or anxiety. Automated or computerized interventions showed promise, with 60% of anxiety programs and 83% of depression programs yielding successful outcomes on at least one measure. Further research is needed to determine the active components of successful programs, to explore cost-effectiveness and scalability factors, to investigate individual predictors of successful outcome, and to design best practice prevention programs.

Journal of Primary Prevention, 31(3) : 139-170

Calear, A. L., Christensen, H.

Review of internet-based prevention and treatment programs for anxiety and depression in children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe current internet-based prevention and treatment programs for anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. DATA SOURCES: Systematic search of the Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and PubMed databases conducted in June 2009. STUDY SELECTION: Studies of internet-based programs that addressed anxiety or depression in children and adolescents. No restrictions were placed on study quality. DATA SYNTHESIS: Eight studies of four intervention programs were identified. Programs were delivered via schools, in primary care, through mental health clinics or open access websites. Two were treatment programs, three offered universal prevention, two were indicated prevention programs, and one was a selective prevention program. Study quality was mixed, with three randomised controlled trials in which participants were randomly allocated to the intervention or control condition, one randomised uncontrolled trial, two controlled trials in which participants were not randomly assigned to conditions, and two uncontrolled pre-post evaluations. Two studies targeted anxiety in children, while the remainder addressed depression, or anxiety and depression, in adolescents. All the interventions were based on cognitive behaviour therapy, and six of the eight studies reported post-intervention reductions in symptoms of anxiety and/or depression or improvements in diagnostic ratings. Three of these studies also reported improvements at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide early support for the effectiveness of internet-based programs for child and adolescent anxiety and depression. More extensive and rigorous research is needed to further establish the conditions through which effectiveness is enhanced, as well as to develop additional programs to address gaps in the field.

Medical Journal of Australia, 192(11 Suppl) : S12-14

Bowden, D., Goddard, L., Gruzelier, J.

Research report: A randomised controlled single-blind trial of the effects of Reiki and positive imagery on well-being and salivary cortisol

The study investigated whether participants who received Reiki would show greater health and well-being benefits than a group who received no Reiki. A method of blinding participants to Reiki was also tested, where non- contact Reiki or No-Reiki with random assignment was given to 35 healthy psychology undergraduates whose attention was absorbed in one of three tasks involving self-hypnosis/relaxation. Participants experienced ten 20-min intervention sessions over a period of two and a half to 12 weeks. Reiki was directed by the experimenter who sat behind the participants as they were absorbed in the tasks. Self-report measures of illness symptoms, mood and sleep were assessed pre - post-intervention as was salivary cortisol. While the Reiki group had a tendency towards a reduction in illness symptoms, a substantive increase was seen in the No-Reiki. The Reiki group also had a near-significant comparative reduction in stress, although they also had significantly higher baseline illness symptoms and stress scores. The Reiki blinding was successful - the groups did not differ statistically in their beliefs regarding group membership. The results are suggestive that the Reiki buffered the substantive decline in health in the course of the academic year seen in the No-Reiki group.

Brain Research Bulletin, 81 : 66- 72

Delgado, Luis Carlos, Guerra, Pedro, Perakakis, Pandelis, ReyesDelPaso, Gustavo, Vila, Jaime

Treating chronic worry: Psychological and physiological effects of a training programme based on mindfulness

The present study examines psychological and physiological indices of emotional regulation in non-clinical high worriers after a mindfulness-based training programme aimed at reducing worry. Thirty-six female university students with high Penn State Worry Questionnaire scores were split into two equal intervention groups: (a) mindfulness, and (b) progressive muscle relaxation plus self-instruction to postpone worrying to a specific time of the day. Assessment included clinical questionnaires, daily self-report of number/duration of worry episodes and indices of emotional meta-cognition. A set of somatic and autonomic measures was recorded (a) during resting, mindfulness/relaxation and worrying periods, and (b) during cued and non-cued affective modulation of defence reactions (cardiac defence and eye-blink startle). Both groups showed equal post-treatment improvement in the clinical and daily self-report measures. However, mindfulness participants reported better emotional meta-cognition (emotional comprehension) and showed improved indices of somatic and autonomic regulation (reduced breathing pattern and increased vagal reactivity during evocation of cardiac defense). These findings suggest that mindfulness reduces chronic worry by promoting emotional and physiological regulatory mechanisms contrary to those maintaining chronic worry.\r2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Behaviour Research & Therapy, 48(9) : 873- 882

Cobham, V. E., Dadds, M. R., Spence, S. H., McDermott, B.

Parental anxiety in the treatment of childhood anxiety: A different story three years later

This study reports on the results of a long-term follow-up of 60 (29 girls and 31 boys, all of Caucasian ethnicity) children and adolescents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and treated 3 years earlier with child- focused cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or child-focused CBT plus parental anxiety management (PAM). Sixty-seven children aged 7 to -14 years were assigned to either the \"child anxiety only\" or the \"child + parental anxiety\" condition based on parents' trait anxiety scores. Within conditions, participants were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment conditions. Results indicated that at follow-up, parental anxiety did not represent a risk factor for children's treatment outcome. In addition at follow-up, children who received the combined CBT + PAM intervention (regardless of parental anxiety status) were significantly more likely to be anxiety diagnosis free compared with children who received the child- focused CBT intervention only. (copyright) Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 39(3) : 410-420

Sawada, T., Yokoi, K

Effect of zinc supplementation on mood states in young women: a pilot study

European journal of clinical nutrition, 64(3) : 331