title: Treatment Concerns and Functional Impairment in Pediatric Anxiety.
abstract: Although there are efficacious, evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders, youth often experience delays in seeking therapy. Myriad reasons may contribute to this lag in treatment initiation, with some youth possessing concerns about therapy. Treatment concerns are broadly characterized by worries/ambivalence about seeking treatment, including concerns about the negative reactions, consequences, and inconvenience of treatment. As no studies exist for youth with anxiety disorders, this study examined the phenomenology of treatment concerns in 119 treatment-seeking, anxious youth and utilized a structural equation model to examine the relationship between child anxiety, depressive symptoms, treatment concerns, and anxiety-related functional impairment. Over 90 % of the children positively endorsed some type of treatment-related fear, with the most frequently expressed concern being that therapy would take too much time (50.4 %). Based on the model, both child anxiety and depressive symptoms predicted functional impairment, and treatment concerns mediated the relationship between child anxiety and functional impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA. MonicaWu@mail.usf.edu.|Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA. MonicaWu@mail.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Monica S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.|School of Social Work, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salloum
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Adam B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Selles
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Erika A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.|Department of Health Policy and Management, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.|Rogers Behavioral Health - Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL, USA.|All Children's Hospital - Johns Hopkins Medicine, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Storch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011613:Psychotherapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents
keywords: Anxiety; Child; Concerns; Impairment; Treatment