Anxiety can be treated with innovative approaches
February 14, 2022Three interventions using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) delivered by audio, workbooks or a book, have been shown to significantly reduce anxiety disorder diagnoses: Turnaround, Chase Worries Away and Helping Your Anxious Child.
For Turnaround children, more than half no longer met diagnostic criteria for their primary anxiety disorder at the end of treatment, compared to only 16.7% of controls. Intervention children also had fewer overall anxiety diagnoses by the end of treatment compared to controls (1.5 vs. 2.3), as well as less severe anxiety and fewer anxiety symptoms.
Chase Worries Away also produced impressive outcomes. Approximately 75% of intervention children no longer met criteria for an anxiety disorder compared to approximately 55% of controls by 5 1⁄2-month follow-up.
Helping Your Anxious Child similarly reduced anxiety disorder diagnoses. For intervention children, 17.8% no longer had an anxiety disorder by the end of treatment, compared to 5.7% of controls. Intervention children also experienced less severe anxiety. For more information, see Vol. 14, No. 2 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.