title: The Child Anxiety Prevention Study: intervention model and primary outcomes.
abstract: The article presents the intervention model and primary outcomes of a preventive intervention designed to reduce anxiety symptoms and prevent the onset of anxiety disorders in the offspring of parents with anxiety disorders. Participants were 40 volunteer children (mean age = 8.94 years; 45% girls; 90% Caucasian) whose parents met criteria for a broad range of anxiety disorders. Families were randomly assigned to an 8-week cognitive-behavioral intervention, the Coping and Promoting Strength program (CAPS; n = 20) or a wait list control condition (WL; n = 20). Independent evaluators (IEs) conducted diagnostic interviews, and children and parents completed measures of anxiety symptoms. Assessments were conducted pre- and postintervention and 6 and 12 months after the postintervention assessment. On the basis of intent to treat analyses, 30% of the children in the WL group developed an anxiety disorder by the 1-year follow-up compared with 0% in the CAPS group. IE and parent-reported (but not child-reported) levels of anxiety showed significant decreases from the preintervention assessment to the 1-year follow-up assessment in the CAPS but not the WL group. Parental satisfaction with the intervention was high. Findings suggest that a family-based intervention may prevent the onset of anxiety disorders in the offspring of parents with anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287-3325, USA. gginsbu@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Golda S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ginsburg
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors