Therapist guided, parent-led cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for pre-adolescent children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD): a non-concurrent multiple baseline case series.

Background: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) including exposure and response prevention (ERP) is an effective treatment for preadolescent children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); however, there is a need to increase access to this treatment for affected children.

Aims: This study is a preliminary evaluation of the efficacy and acceptability of a therapist-guided, parent-led CBT intervention for pre-adolescent children (5-12 years old) with OCD using a non-concurrent multiple baseline approach.

Method: Parents of 10 children with OCD were randomly allocated to no-treatment baselines of 3, 4 or 5 weeks before receiving six to eight individual treatment sessions with a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner.

In the moment social experiences and perceptions of children with social anxiety disorder: A qualitative study.

Objectives: Childhood social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common and disabling condition. General forms of cognitive behavioural treatments have demonstrated poorer efficacy for childhood SAD when compared to other childhood anxiety disorders and further understanding of the psychological factors that contribute to the maintenance of childhood SAD is warranted. Examining the social experiences of children with SAD may help to identify relevant psychological factors and increase our understanding of what keeps childhood SAD going.

Annual Research Review: Immersive virtual reality and digital applied gaming interventions for the treatment of mental health problems in children and young people: the need for rigorous treatment development and clinical evaluation.

Background: Mental health problems in children and young people are common and can lead to poor long-term outcomes. Despite the availability of effective psychological interventions for mental health disorders, only a minority of affected children and young people access treatment. Digital interventions, such as applied games and virtual reality (VR), that target mental health problems in children and young people may hold a key to increasing access to, engagement with, and potentially the effectiveness of psychological treatments.

Research Review: The relationship between social anxiety and social cognition in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is common and impairing. The recommended treatment is a disorder specific form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that includes social skills training and, whilst they appear to be more effective than more general treatments, it is not clear whether social skills training is the critical component involved in improved outcomes, particularly given that evidence for the relationship between social anxiety and social skills deficits in children is inconsistent. This may be partly due to an overlap in their observable features, and because the nature of the association may vary in different contexts (e.

Research Review: Recommendations for reporting on treatment trials for child and adolescent anxiety disorders - an international consensus statement.

Background: Anxiety disorders in children and young people are common and bring significant personal and societal costs. Over the last two decades, there has been a substantial increase in research evaluating psychological and pharmacological treatments for anxiety disorders in children and young people and exciting and novel research has continued as the field strives to improve efficacy and effectiveness, and accessibility of interventions. This increase in research brings potential to draw together data across studies to compare treatment approaches and advance understanding of what works, how, and for whom.

Mental Imagery in Social Anxiety in Children and Young People: A Systematic Review.

Current cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adults indicate that negative self-images play a pivotal role in maintaining the disorder. However, little is known about the role of negative imagery in the maintenance of social anxiety for children and young people. We systematically reviewed studies that have investigated the association between imagery and social anxiety in children and young people.

Associations between family factors, childhood adversity, negative life events and child anxiety disorders: an exploratory study of diagnostic specificity.

Background: Chronic childhood adversity, negative life events, and anxiogenic parenting behaviours have all been implicated in the development and maintenance of childhood anxiety disorders. However, few studies have addressed whether these factors are associated with particular types of childhood anxiety disorders.

Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate whether specific associations were obtained between specific types of childhood anxiety disorder - namely, social anxiety disorder (SOC), separation anxiety disorder (SEP) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) - and the nature of particular forms of psycho-social risk - namely, chronic childhood adversity, negative life events, and particular forms of parenting behaviours.

Protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study examining the efficacy of brief cognitive therapy for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents (TAD-A).

Background: Anxiety disorders affect a quarter of the population during their lifetime, and typically emerge in childhood or adolescence. Anxiety disorders disrupt young people's social, emotional and academic development and in the absence of treatment, often follow a chronic course. Although effective treatments, such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), exist, only a small proportion of adolescents with anxiety disorders who need treatment receive them.

Are children with social anxiety disorder more likely than children with other anxiety disorders to anticipate poor social performance and reflect negatively on their performance?

Background: The cognitive theory of social anxiety disorder (SAD) suggests that adults with SAD have a tendency to anticipate poor social performance and reflect negatively on their performance following a social event. While a number of studies with socially anxious adults have supported the role of poor performance anticipation and post-event rumination in SAD, to date, only a few studies have addressed whether this also applies to children with SAD.

Methods: Children (7-12 years) diagnosed with SAD (n = 40), other anxious children (n = 40) and non-anxious children (n = 34) were exposed to a social stressor speech task and their pre- and post-performance appraisals assessed, taking into account objective performance ratings.

Symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and stress in parents of children with social anxiety disorder.

Objectives: It has been suggested that elevated maternal social anxiety may play a disorder-specific role in maintaining childhood social anxiety disorder (SAD), but few studies have examined whether mothers of children with SAD are more socially anxious than mothers of children with other anxiety disorders (ANX). This study set out to examine whether symptoms of social anxiety were more severe amongst mothers of 7-12 year old children presenting for treatment with SAD (n = 260) compared to those presenting with ANX (n = 138). In addition, we examined whether there were differences between these two groups in terms of maternal and paternal general anxiety, depression, and stress.

Development and validation of a measure of maladaptive social-evaluative beliefs characteristic of social anxiety disorder in youth: The Report of Youth Social Cognitions (RYSC).

Recent research has started to examine the applicability of influential adult models of the maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD) to youth. This research is limited by the lack of psychometrically validated measures of underlying constructs that are developmentally appropriate for youth. One key construct in adult models of SAD is maladaptive social-evaluative beliefs.

Social anxiety in pre-adolescent children: What do we know about maintenance?

The cognitive theory of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most widely accepted accounts of the maintenance of the disorder in adults, yet it remains unknown if, or to what extent, the same cognitive and behavioral maintenance mechanisms that occur in adult SAD also apply to SAD among pre-adolescent children. In contrast to the adult literature, current models of SAD in children mostly account for etiology and maintenance processes are given limited attention. Consequently, their clinical utility for the treatment of SAD in children may be limited.

Why Do People with OCD and Health Anxiety Seek Reassurance Excessively? An Investigation of Differences and Similarities in Function.

Excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) is commonly reported in patients who have OCD or health anxiety. Despite its prevalence and associated risk of ongoing difficulties, little is known about the function of ERS. It has been conceptualised as a type of compulsive checking behaviour, but could also be seen as being a supportive maneuver.

Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Excessive Reassurance Seeking in an Older Adult: A Single Case Quasi-Experimental Design.

Background: Cognitive behavioural interventions for excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) typically focus on encouraging individuals to refrain from seeking any reassurance and in some cases banning caregivers (e.g. family members) from providing it.