Cognitive-behavioural therapy for children and adolescents
O'Connor TG., Creswell C.
Cognitive-behavioral 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. Significant improvements in symptoms that may be operationalized as approximately a 50% reduction in symptoms, can now be confidently predicted with adequate CBT treatment. Nonetheless, variability in treatment response is significant, and this variability is attracting concerted research attention. Studies using both child-focused and child-focused plus family components have also been reported. The connected notions behind these efforts are to improve treatment outcomes and to understand better the processes by which anxiety, depression and other disorders may be transmitted in families. Furthermore, there is 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. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.