Parental Anxiety in the Treatment of Childhood Anxiety: A Different Story Three Years Later

Abstract

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.

Notes

Note. CBT = cognitive behavioral therapy; PAM = parental anxiety management.

^a n = 16.

^b n = 16.

^c n = 16.

^d n = 16.

Note. CBT = cognitive behavioral therapy; PAM = parental anxiety management; RCMAS = Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale; CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist.

^a n = 9.

^b n = 11.

^c n = 10.

^d n = 10.