Parent-coached exposure therapy versus cognitive behavior therapy for childhood anxiety disorders.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the strongest evidenced-based therapy for childhood anxiety disorders (CADs). However, CBT's impact is limited by its lack of clear superiority over treatment as usual, excessive length, and greater than 50% of patients remaining symptomatic. Parent-coached exposure therapy (PCET) is designed to treat CADs more effectively and efficiently through a focus on exposure and working with parents and youth together.

The 5-Year Course of Medication Treatment in Childhood Anxiety Disorders.

Objective: For pediatric psychiatric disorders, given the marked increase in use of medications without an understanding of the typical treatment course, the primary goal of the current study was to examine the course of pharmacotherapy over 5 years in children with newly diagnosed anxiety disorders.

Methods: We reviewed provider billing and prescription ordering records of a tertiary medical center from 2008 through 2015 to identify children (aged 7-17 years) newly diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and to determine the psychopharmacologic treatment that they received from 2010 through 2015. The frequency at which patients received prescriptions from 9 classes of psychotropic medications at any point during the study period was determined.

The Length of Child Anxiety Treatment in a Regional Health System.

Anxiety disorders are often undertreated due to unsuccessful dissemination of evidence-based treatments (EBTs). Lack of empirical data regarding the typical length of treatment in clinical settings may hamper the development of clinically relevant protocols. The current study examined billing records for 335 children ages 7-17 years to quantify the treatment received for newly diagnosed anxiety disorders within a regional health system.

The Challenge of Empathy: A Pilot Study of the Use of Standardized Patients to Teach Introductory Psychopathology to Medical Students.

This pilot study compares standardized and actual psychiatric patients used to teach introductory psychopathology. In a blinded manner, students and psychiatric faculty interviewed both types of patients, using a small group format. Before and after the course, students and faculty completed a questionnaire about expectations and effectiveness.