Mr. Dadds et al., Early intervention and prevention of anxiety disorders in children: Results at 2-year follow-up, J CONS CLIN, 67(1), 1999, pp. 145-150
The Queensland Early Intervention and Prevention of Anxiety Project evaluat
ed a child- and family-focused group intervention for preventing anxiety pr
oblems in children. This article reports on 12- and 24-month follow-up data
to previously reported outcomes at posttreatment and at 6-month follow-up.
A total of 1,786 7- to 14-year-olds were screened for anxiety problems usi
ng teacher nominations and children's self-report. After diagnostic intervi
ews, 128 children were selected and assigned to either a 10-week school-bas
ed child- and parent-focused psychosocial intervention or a monitoring grou
p. Both groups showed improvements immediately at postintervention and at 6
-month follow-up; the improvement was maintained in the intervention group
only, reducing the rate of existing anxiety disorder and preventing the ons
et of new anxiety disorders. At 12 months, the groups converged, but the su
periority of the intervention group was evident again at 2-year follow-up.
Severity of pretreatment diagnoses, gender, and parental anxiety predicted
poor initial response to intervention, whereas pretreatment severity was th
e only predictor of chronicity at 24 months. Overall, follow-up results sho
w that a brief school-based intervention for children can produce durable r
eductions in anxiety problems.