No Need to Worry: The Promising Future of Child Anxiety Research

Abstract

Looking ahead, we review two themes concerning the treatment of youth anxiety: treatment personalization and its dissemination and implementation (DI). Anxious youth can be effectively treated, but not all youth respond, suggesting the need to further adapt, or personalize, interventions for nonresponders. Treatment personalization may benefit from increased knowledge of social phobia, modular and transdiagnostic treatments, and active mechanisms of change. Further, despite the availability of efficacious treatments, they remain underutilized in the community. DI needs to overcome concerns regarding treatment manuals, social and organizational factors, therapist training, and reaching underserved populations. Finally, computer-based programs can facilitate dissemination through both treating anxious youth and training therapists.

Acknowledgments

The working title of this article has varied. It matured from its initial draft (In Line at the Child Anxiety Deli: “Next”), which was thought to be too geographically restricted, to a more universal title (Discerning the Future of Child Anxiety Treatment: A Look Inside the Crystal Ball), which hinted credit to the supernatural. The authors enjoy titling, and claim to have written more impressive titles than articles: We hope that the final agreed-upon title is an accurate umbrella for its content.