Prevention of anxiety symptoms in primary school children: preliminary results from a universal school-based trial.
Preliminary data are presented on the effectiveness of a universal school-based intervention for the prevention of anxiety symptoms in primary school children. A sample of 489 children (aged 10-12 years) were assigned to one of three intervention conditions: a psychologist-led preventive intervention, a teacher-led preventive intervention, or a usual care (standard curriculum) with monitoring condition. The intervention offered was the Friends for Children programme, a 12-session cognitive-behavioural intervention, originally based upon Kendall's (1994) Coping Cat programme. Participants in both intervention conditions reported fewer symptoms of anxiety at post-intervention than participants in the usual care condition. These preliminary results suggest that universal programmes for childhood anxiety are promising intervention strategies that can be successfully delivered to a school-based population and integrated into the classroom curriculum.
Barrett
P
P
School of Applied Psychology, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, Brisbane, Qld 4111, Australia. p.barrett@mailbox.gu.edu.au
Turner
C
C
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*