Brief guided parent-delivered CBT is both efficacious and cost-effective for childhood anxiety disorders

ABSTRACT FROM: Creswell C, Violato M, Fairbanks H, et al. Clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of brief guided parent-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy and solution-focused brief therapy for treatment of childhood anxiety disorders: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry 2017;4:529–539.

What is already known on this topic

Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent disorders in children and adolescents with half of all lifetime cases emerging before age 12.1 Solid evidence supports the use of cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) in the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders with recovery rates of approximately 60% seen in various studies. To date, however, little research has assessed the efficacy of shorter forms of CBT nor has there been much exploration of the cost-effectiveness of treatments for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. This randomised controlled trial2 compared two brief treatments on efficacy and cost-effectiveness in the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders.

Methods of the study

One hundred…

Read the full article ›