Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Children and Adolescents

Summary: Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a treatment model that is now widely applied to a range of clinical disorders in children and adolescents. Many studies have used the 'gold-standard' randomized controlled trial to show that CBT can be an effective treatment, with much of the evidence focusing on depression and anxiety and typically reporting recovery rates of approximately 50%. Nonetheless, variability in treatment response is significant. Studies using both child-focused and child-plus family components have also been reported, which aim to improve treatment outcomes and to understand better the processes by which anxiety, depression and other disorders may be transmitted in families. There is also growing interest in using CBT-based principles in preventive interventions, with anxiety and depression, again, attracting the most attention. In summary, CBT has emerged as a major clinical model for researching basic principles in development and psychopathology and for shaping public health applications of clinical science. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.