Cognitive behavioral therapy for 4- to 7-year-old children with anxiety disorders: A randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of a developmentally appropriate parent–child cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol for anxiety disorders in children ages 4–7 years. Method: Design: Randomized wait-list controlled trial. Conduct: Sixty-four children (53% female, mean age 5.4 years, 80% European American) with anxiety disorders were randomized to a parent–child CBT intervention (n = 34) or a 6-month wait-list condition (n = 30). Children were assessed by interviewers blind to treatment assignment, using structured diagnostic interviews with parents, laboratory assessments of behavioral inhibition, and parent questionnaires. Analysis: Chi-square analyses of outcome rates and linear and ordinal regression of repeated measures, examining time by intervention interactions. Results: The response rate (much or very much improved on the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Anxiety) among 57 completers was 69% versus 32% (CBT vs. controls), p     

Evidence-based parent and family interventions in school psychology: A commentary.

Do the authors provide us with convincing evidence that parent and family interventions change children's behavior and learning at school? The answer is not a simple or straightforward one. First off, there appears to be more support for interventions that are part of a multi-component program, that are highly focused in scope, and that entail active collaboration between parents, students, and the schools; hence, more support appears to be available for family/parent consultation and family-school collaboration/partnership programs than for the more unidirectional and limited parent education and parent involvement programs. Second, although 100 studies are examined, it is readily apparent that the studies reported on in the various reviews are characterized by numerous methodological shortcomings that compromise their scientific integrity and the conclusions we can safely draw from them. Third, it is evident that nearly all of the efficacious treatments are behavior or cognitive-behavioral ones. Fourth and finally, it will be important to begin to identify the students, families, and schools that are most likely to benefit from the various interventions and to examine the specific mechanisms of change in each of the proposed interventions. In sum, it seems safe to conclude that evidentiary support for the effectiveness of parent and family interventions in school psychology is mixed at best. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of childhood phobias

Childhood phobias can be successfully treated using a variety of behavioral strategies, provided there has been a psychometrically sound assessment. Measures are also important for the evaluation of treatment efficacy and the testing of hypotheses generated by new ideas and theories of children's phobias. This paper outlines broad-based assessment procedures used in the evaluation of children's phobias, including the behavioral or problem-focused interview, the diagnostic interview, self-report inventories, caregiver completed instruments, behavioral observations, self-monitoring and physiological assessment. Reflecting recent theoretical and clinical advances in the study of childhood internalizing disorders, we also explore laboratory-based measures and family assessment measures. Particular attention is given to psychometric issues and developmental sensitivity in our discussion of these assessment procedures.     

Developmental changes in the influence of assigned goals on cooperation and competition.

We examined developmental changes in the influence of social goals on cooperative and competitive behavior in children between the ages of 6 and 13. Children played a game with a neutrally instructed peer under cooperative and individualistic instructions. The tendency to engage in cooperative and combative moves and to use attentional words varied interactively with age, sex, order of instructions, instructions, and trials. Older children adapted their cooperative behavior to fit assigned goals when individualistic trials preceded cooperation trials, but younger children did not. Older children adapted their competitive behavior on two of five game trials, but younger children did not adapt their competitive behavior on any trials. We observed no developmental differences in the overall levels of cooperation and competition. However, younger children were more likely to use attentional words than older children, and both age groups used more attentional words under individualistic instructions than under cooperative instructions. The results suggest that older children were more flexible in adapting their social strategies to assigned goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fears in American, Australian, Chinese, and Nigerian children and adolescents: a cross-cultural study

The control of reproductive seasonality was studied in farmed adult red deer hinds that had been either ovariectomized or ovariectomized and oestradiol-treated (s.c. implants). The breeding season, delineated by progesterone secretion in intact hind herdmates, was characterized by high (mean 0.6, range 0.1-2.5 ng ml-1 plasma) LH concentrations in ovariectomized oestradiol-treated hinds. In contrast, during the non-breeding season plasma LH concentrations in these animals were significantly lower (mean 0.1, range 0-0.9 ng ml-1 plasma). LH secretion in ovariectomized untreated hinds also displayed a marked seasonal pattern, approximately the inverse of daily photoperiod (that is, a winter peak and summer trough). The pituitary LH response to 10 micrograms exogenous GnRH was also maximal during the breeding season in ovariectomized (mean 7.4, range 1.2-14.6 ng ml-1) and ovariectomized, oestradiol-treated (mean 16.4, range 1.4-32.3 ng ml-1) hinds. These results indicate that LH secretion in the hind is regulated by both steroid-dependent and -independent mechanisms.     

Depression in British and American children and its relation to anxiety and fear.

The relations between the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children—Revised (FSSC-R) were examined in 327 British and 336 American children. Relations were similar for both samples of children, with depression more closely related to anxiety than to fear. In addition, the utility of M. Kovacs's (see record 1981-31663-001) recommended cutoff score (CDI?≥?19) for identifying extreme groups of depressed children was evaluated. Children who reported high levels of depression also reported high levels of anxiety and social evaluative fears. The findings are discussed in light of D. Watson and L. A. Clark's (see record 1985-12093-001) notion of negative affectivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy of success and the probability learning of retarded children.

Tested 23 male and 22 female institutionalized retarded children who had previously experienced either a success, failure, or control precondition on a probability learning task designed to assess expectancy of success. Ss were matched for CA, MA, IQ, and length of institutionalization. The following measures were also collected as S variables: Locus-of-Control Scale, Cottage Rating Scales, school rating, and Reading and Arithmetic subscales from the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The preconditions were found to have many of the expected effects on the cognitive strategies employed in the learning task. Ss in the failure condition showed the greatest avoidance of failure (maximizing strategy), while Ss in the success condition tended to show more success striving (lose-shift strategy). Males were found to exhibit more failure-avoiding strategies than females. The overall pattern of results is interpreted as providing support for the hypothesis that a low expectancy of success in retarded children can be modified. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variations in a construct: Quantitative and qualitative differences in children's locus of control.

Examined differences in locus of control scores and factor patterns among normal and nonnormal groups and male and female normals using the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Multidimensionality of the locus of control construct in children was supported by separate factor analyses of emotionally disturbed, delinquent, and elementary public school children. Qualitative differences in factor patterns between normals and nonnormals raised questions about interpreting inventory scores as reflecting the same construct for differing S groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of internalizing problems in children: The role of longitudinal data.

Examines the role of longitudinal data in the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of internalizing disorders in children and adolescents. On the basis of the limited longitudinal data available, it is suggested that internalizing disorders in children and adolescents are highly prevalent, frequently comorbid with other childhood disorders, and, arguably so, persistent over time. However, it is also noted that a considerable amount of instability characterizes these disorders and that the developmental course is not fully understood at this time. In addition, these disorders are responsive to treatment, at least on a short-term basis. Finally, a plea is made for longitudinal studies that use a developmental perspective in examining internalizing disorders in children and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)