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Pediatric social anxiety disorder consistently shows the poorest treatment response of all anxiety disorders. The current study compared a generic cognitive−behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment for pediatric anxiety against a modified (social anxiety) treatment that incorporated specific components to target theoretically important maintaining processes. A total of 200 children and adolescents (mean age = 9.5 years, SD = 2.2 years; 47% boys) diagnosed with social anxiety disorder as either their principal or additional disorder were randomly allocated to either the generic or the modified treatment. Both treatments were based on a manualized, empirically validated program (Cool Kids) and comprised 10 sessions over 12 weeks. Assessments comprised structured diagnostic interview and parent and youth reports, and covered diagnoses, symptoms, life impairment, and assessment of maintaining processes at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up. The treatments did not differ significantly on the primary outcome (remission of social anxiety disorder) at either posttreatment (remission in generic = 41%; modified = 44%) or follow-up (remission in generic = 51%; modified = 69%), although the latter approached significance (p =.08). They also did not differ at either time point on most secondary measures of outcome. The only maintaining process that changed more under modified treatment was attention to the current task. Despite some positive hints in the data, there was little evidence that the modified intervention significantly improved treatment of pediatric social anxiety disorder, despite incorporating strategies to address putative maintaining mechanisms. The similar improvement between treatments on most maintaining processes suggests that new and innovative strategies may be needed to better target these processes. Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioural Treatment for Socially Anxious Youth; https://www.anzctr.org.au/ ; 12616001065482. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Stepped care is embraced as an ideal model of service delivery but is minimally evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for child anxiety delivered via a stepped-care framework compared against a single, empirically validated program.Method: A total of 281 youth with anxiety disorders (6-17 years of age) were randomly allocated to receive either empirically validated treatment or stepped care involving the following: (1) low intensity; (2) standard CBT; and (3) individually tailored treatment. Therapist qualifications increased at each step.Results: Interventions did not differ significantly on any outcome measures. Total therapist time per child was significantly shorter to deliver stepped care (774 minutes) compared with best practice (897 minutes). Within stepped care, the first 2 steps returned the strongest treatment gains.Conclusion: Stepped care and a single empirically validated program for youth with anxiety produced similar efficacy, but stepped care required slightly less therapist time. Restricting stepped care to only steps 1 and 2 would have led to considerable time saving with modest loss in efficacy. Clinical trial registration information-A Randomised Controlled Trial of Standard Care Versus Stepped Care for Children and Adolescents With Anxiety Disorders; http://anzctr.org.au/; ACTRN12612000351819. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We examined the effectiveness of targeted school-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescents (12-16 years of age) with anxiety, and tested whether brief CBT was noninferior to standard duration CBT.Method: A randomized controlled study of 313 adolescents (mean 14.0 years, SD = 0.84, 84% girls) were recruited through school health services to 10 weeks CBT group interventions. Groups of 5 to 8 adolescents were randomly allocated to brief (5 sessions, comprising 5.5 hours) or standard CBT (10 sessions, comprising 15 hours), or 10 weeks waitlist (WL). Self-reported and parent-reported youth anxiety symptoms, impairment from anxiety, depressive symptoms,and clinical severity were assessed pre- and postintervention, after WL, and at 1-year follow-up.Results: Targeted school based CBT significantly reduced adolescents' anxiety symptoms with small to moderate effect sizes compared to WL (Cohen d = 0.34 for youth report and d = 0.53 for parent report). According to the parents, also adolescents' impairment from anxiety was significantly reduced compared to WL (d = 0.51). Pre to post changes in anxiety symptoms were small to moderate (within-group effect sizes between d = 0.41 and d = 0.67). Although no significant differences in effects were found between brief and standard CBT, brief CBT was not noninferior to standard CBT. Outcomes from both interventions were sustained at 1-year follow-up.Conclusion: Targeted school-based CBT interventions reduced anxiety, impairment, and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Both brief and standard CBT demonstrated efficacy, but brief CBT was not noninferior to standard CBT. By administering school-based CBT to youths with anxiety symptoms, we may reach young people with effective interventions at an earlier phase in their lives.Clinical Trial Registration Information: School Based Low-intensity Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Anxious Youth (LIST); http://clinicalrials.gov/; NCT02279251. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]