title: An open trial investigation of a transdiagnostic group treatment for children with anxiety and depressive symptoms.
abstract: The current study investigates the feasibility and preliminary outcomes associated with a transdiagnostic emotion-focused group protocol for the treatment of anxiety disorders and depressive symptoms in youth. Twenty-two children (ages 7 to 12; M=9.79) with a principal anxiety disorder and varying levels of comorbid depressive symptoms were enrolled in an open trial of the Emotion Detectives Treatment Protocol (EDTP; Ehrenreich-May & Bilek, 2009), an intervention adapted from existent unified protocols for the treatment of emotional disorders among adults and adolescents. Results indicate that participants experienced significant improvements in clinician-rated severity of principal anxiety disorder diagnoses (d=1.38), the sum of all anxiety and depressive disorder severity ratings (d=1.07), and child-reported anxiety (d=0.47) and parent-reported depressive symptoms (d=0.54) at the posttreatment assessment. EDTP had good retention rates and reports of high satisfaction. Thus, preliminary evidence suggests that EDTP is a feasible and potentially efficacious treatment of youth anxiety disorders and co-occurring depressive symptoms. Children experiencing a range of internalizing symptoms may benefit from this more generalized, emotion-focused treatment modality, as it offers flexibility to families and the mental health clinician, while maintaining a concurrent focus on the provision of cognitive-behavioral treatment skills vital to the amelioration of anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms in youth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Florida, USA. ebilek@psy.miami.edu
authors.forename: Emily L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Bilek
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ehrenreich-May
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome