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Background: Preschool-aged children exhibit a relatively high prevalence rate of anxiety disorders, and the course of these disorders is often chronic. However, surprisingly few studies have focused on the treatment of anxiety in this age group. In response to this limitation, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of an open trial of the Fun FRIENDS (FF) program, a downward extension of the FRIENDS programs for preschool-aged children (5-7 years), in a community clinic setting. Method: The sample included 31 children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Treatment consisted of 10 weekly sessions administered in a group format. Parents also received two information sessions. Child anxiety, behavioural inhibition, and resiliency were assessed at preintervention, immediate postintervention, and at 12-month follow-up. Results: Significant decreases in child anxiety and shyness and improvements on measures of resiliency were observed following the completion of treatment. Conclusions: The results of this study provide support for the effectiveness of the Fun FRIENDS program as a treatment for anxiety in young children. Further, this study adds to the relatively small body of research focused on the use of CBT to treat anxiety disorders in this population.
* Keywords: anxiety, child, preschool, early intervention, internalising
Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders in children (Polanczyk, Salum, Sugaya, Caye, & Rohde, 2015), and early intervention efforts may be of particular importance, as many children develop anxiety symptoms during the preschool years (Egger & Angold, 2006; Paulus, Backes, Sander, Weber, & Gontard, 2015). Further, anxiety disorders in young children tend to persist and lead to impairment in a number of areas of functioning (Bufferd, Dougherty, Carlson, Rose, & Klein, 2012; Hirshfeld-Becker & Biedermann, 2002; Towe-Goodman, Franz, Copeland, Angold, & Egger, 2014; Wichstrøm, Belsky, & Berg-Nielsen, 2013). Despite the relatively high prevalence, persistence, and level of impairment associated with anxiety in young children, surprisingly few studies have focused on anxiety in this population.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) has been identified as the gold standard of child and adolescent anxiety treatment (Barrett, Lowry-Webster, & Turner, 2000; James, Soler, & Weatherall, 2009; Kendall, 1990, 1994). Although these treatments have been well established in school-aged children, relatively few studies have focused on the treatment of anxiety in preschool-aged children. Recently, Hirshfeld-Becker et al....