Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 46, Issue 3, May 2015, Pages 350-364
Behavior Therapy

Intensive Group-Based CBT for Child Social Phobia: A Pilot Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2014.12.005Get rights and content

Highlights

  • An intensive, group-based, CBT program for child social phobia was examined

  • Therapy comprised 4 sessions, each of 3-hours duration, over a period of 15 days

  • 76.9% of children were diagnosis free at 6-month follow-up

Abstract

Objective

Although CBT has proven efficacious in the treatment of child social phobia (SP), most children do not present for treatment and child SP may be less responsive to treatment than other anxiety disorders. Intensive, group-based, SP-specific CBT may improve the efficacy of, and access to, treatment for child SP. The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary examination of such a program.

Method

Forty Australian children aged 7–12 years (15 male and 25 female) were allocated into treatment and waitlist groups. Clinical interviews to determine diagnostic status were conducted prior to treatment, following treatment and at 6-month follow-up. Parent and child questionnaire measures of child anxiety symptoms, internalizing symptoms, depression, social skills, social competence, and parental social anxiety were administered at the same time points. Treatment was delivered in 4 separate 3-hour sessions conducted over 3 consecutive weekends.

Results

At postassessment, 52.4% of children in the treatment group and 15.8% of children in the waitlist group were free of their SP diagnosis. At postassessment, compared to waitlist children, treatment group children demonstrated a greater drop in clinical severity, a greater increase in overall functioning, and held fewer clinical diagnoses. Treatment group children also reported a greater reduction in SP symptoms compared to waitlist children, and treatment group parents reported a greater reduction in child internalizing and anxiety symptoms, a greater increase in child social competence, and a greater decrease in parental SP symptoms, compared to parents of children in the waitlist group. By 6-month follow-up, 76.9% of the treatment group were free of their SP diagnosis and gains on all other measures were maintained.

Conclusions

The results of this study are encouraging, and suggest that brief, intensive, group CBT for children with social anxiety is beneficial for many youngsters.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 40 children (15 male, 25 female) aged 7 to 12 years (M = 9.43, SD = 1.48) with a primary clinical diagnosis of SP, and at least one of their parents. Eighty-five percent of children were born in Australia, 7.5% in the United Kingdom, 2.5% in France, 2.5% in Hong Kong, and 2.5% in the United States of America. The majority of children (80%) lived with both biological parents, 12.5% lived with their mother, 5% with their mother and step-father, and 2.5% reported other living

Pretreatment Comparisons

In order to assess for any preexisting differences between the treatment and waitlist groups, ANOVAs were used to compare the groups on age and number of anxiety disorders, a chi-square analysis was used to assess for gender differences, and a series of three MANOVAs were used to assess for potential group differences on (a) CSR and CGAS, (b) child questionnaire measures, and (c) parent questionnaire measures. No significant differences between conditions were found for child age, F(1, 38) = 

Discussion

This study sought to investigate the efficacy of an intensive CBT group treatment for child SP comprising a series of four separate 3-hour group sessions conducted over 15 days. The results for the primary outcome measures supported the hypotheses. At 12 weeks postbaseline assessment, significantly more children in the treatment compared to the waitlist group had lost their SP diagnosis and all anxiety diagnoses. Indeed, 52.4% of the treatment group compared to 15.8% of the waitlist group were

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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    The authors would like to thank Griffith University who funded this research under their New Researcher Grant Scheme. The sponsors were not involved in data collection, analysis or interpretation; the writing of the report; or the decision to submit the article for publication.

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