Making friends with childhood anxiety: an early intervention Presenters: Ms Jemona Mostert Dr Helene Loxton Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University

Introduction Motivation for the study  Literature suggest a high prevalence of anxiety symptoms among South African youth (inter alia Burkhardt, Loxton, & Muris, 2003 ; Muris, Schmidt, Engelbrecht, & Perold, 2002 )  Yet, an early intervention- and prevention programme is lacking Aims of the study  To investigate the effectiveness of a CBT early intervention- and prevention programme in a sample of middle childhood children

Method Research Design  Quasi-experimental design: non-equivalent waitlist- comparison group Sampling  ad hoc sample of 12-year-old (M=12.6, SD=9.12) children Participants  66 children (30 girls, 36 boys) from a local school at Stellenbosch, in in a formerly disadvantaged neighbourhood

Measures  Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) (Spence, 1997)  Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) (Reynolds, & Richmond, 1978) Time Line  Time 1: pre-intervention assessment  Rx : Intervention group  Time 2: post-intervention assessment  Time 3: post-intervention follow-up  Rx : Waitlist-comparison group  Time 4: post-intervention assessment

Intervention Programme Motivation for FRIENDS programme  research based (Barrett, & Turner, 2001)  child-friendliness FRIENDS programme (Barrett, 2004)  F =Feeling worried? R =Relax and feel good I =Inner thoughts E =Exploring plans N =Nice work – reward yourself! D =Don’t forget to practise S =Stay calm!

Results Between group effects (n=46) (oneway ANOVA)  Time 1: SCAS: F(1,44) = 0.27 p = 1.00 RCMAS: F(1,44) = 0.55, p = 1.00  Time 2: SCAS: F(1,44) = 0.01, p = 1.00 RCMAS: F(1,44) = 0.83, p = 1.00  Time 3: SCAS: F(1,44) = 2.25, p =.56 RCMAS: F(1,44) = 1.42, p =.96  Time 4: SCAS: F(1,44) = 0.07, p = 1.00 RCMAS: F(1,44) = 0.23, p = 1.00

Within group effects (n=46) (repeated measures ANOVA)  Significant effect for time within the intervention group: F(2.61) = 10.84, p =.00 Post Hoc: from Time 3 onward (4-months post- intervention)  No significant effect for time within the waitlist- comparison group: F(1.87) = 1.36, p =.27

Implications Need for an early intervention and prevention programme CBT principles are appropriate for middle childhood children Australian FRIENDS program  cost effectiveness? Options?  collaboration and adaption of established programmes?  own program, relevant to the South African context?  alternatives?

References Barrett, P.M. (2004). FRIENDS for life: Group leaders’ manual. Bowen Hills, Australia: Australian Academic Press. Barrett, P.M., & Turner, C.M. (2001). Prevention of anxiety symptoms in primary school children: Preliminary results from a universal school-based trial. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, Burkhardt, K., Loxton, H.S., & Muris, P. (2003). Fears and fearfulness in South-African children. Behaviour Change, 20(2),

Muris, P., Schmidt, H., Engelbrecht, P., & Perold, M. (2002). DSM-IV defined anxiety disorder symptoms in South African children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, Reynolds, C.R., & Richmond, B.O. (1978). What I think and feel: A revised measure of children’s manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, Spence, S.H. (1997). Structure of anxiety symptoms among children: A confirmatory factor analytic study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(2),