title: The efficacy of a group-based, disorder-specific treatment program for childhood GAD--a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary examination of a disorder-specific treatment program for children with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) that employed strategies targeting underlying cognitive factors. Forty-two children with a primary diagnosis of GAD, aged between 7 and 12 years, were randomly assigned to either a treatment (TX) or waitlist (WLC) condition. Clinical diagnostic interviews as well as parent and child questionnaires were completed at pre- and post-assessment for both conditions, and at 3-month follow-up for the TX group. For the completer analyses at post-treatment, 52.9 % of children in the TX group (0% in the WLC group) were free of their primary GAD diagnosis. By 3-month follow-up, 100% of children in the TX group were free of their GAD diagnosis, 50% were free of all diagnoses. Overall, there is preliminary evidence that a disorder-specific treatment program for children with GAD is effective in treating this chronic and disabling disorder.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Psychology and the Behavioural Basis of Health, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt Campus, Mount Gravatt, QLD, 4122, Australia. Electronic address: m.holmes@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Monique C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Psychology and the Behavioural Basis of Health, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt Campus, Mount Gravatt, QLD, 4122, Australia. Electronic address: c.donovan@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Caroline L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Psychology and the Behavioural Basis of Health, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia. Electronic address: l.farrell@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Lara J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Counselling and Community, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, QLD, 4300, Australia. Electronic address: Sonja.March@usq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: March
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013812:Therapeutics; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Anxiety; Child psychopathology; Cognitive-behaviour therapy; Generalised anxiety disorder; Treatment