Psychiatric nurse delivered group-cognitive-behavioral therapy for internalizing behavior problems among children of parents with alcohol use disorders.

Purpose: The present study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of group-cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety, depression, and self-esteem among children of parents with alcohol use disorder.

Design And Methods: A randomized, controlled trial study was conducted with 70 children of parents with alcohol use disorder. The children were initially screened for the presence of behavioral problems and living with parents with alcohol use disorder, then assigned randomly to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received eight biweekly group CBT sessions.

Results: Over 3-month study period, the results showed a statistically significant reduction in depression and anxiety scores and a significant improvement in self-esteem scores among CBT group children compared with the control group children.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the effectiveness of CBT group treatment for children of parents with an alcohol use disorder and that school mental health nurses/psychiatric nurses can effectively deliver psychotherapy for behavioral and emotional problems of high-risk children.