Of the sample, 60% of them had had some sort of intervention therapy in the past. Eight of the children, or 20% of the sample, exhibited a school refusal, in which they missed over 40% of the past month as a result of emotional stress.
Of the 40 children referred to the study, 38 of them followed through with the study's intervention therapy, 24 boys and 14 girls. Parents were also included in the study, of which 87.5% of them were women, 87.5% of them were married, and 65% of them were college educated. A variety of ethnicities were represented with 60% Caucasian, 22.5% multiracial, 10% Hispanic, 2.5% African-American, and 2.5% Asian.
Results/Findings
The main hypothesis proposed was that CBT intervention therapy for anxiety disorders in children would result in a reduction in overall anxiety and therefore lead to increased school performance. Using the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule for DSM-IV before, during, and after the study, the results were graphed over time. The slopes were then analyzed to determine the extent of the decrease in the anxiety score, which showed a strong statistical slope indicting a large decrease in anxiety. This concludes the hypothesis that CBT therapy over time will decrease overall anxiety in school children.
In addition, previous discussion in the article stated that eight of the study's participants were missing 40% of the last month's school days for anxiety reasons. At the conclusion of the study, all of these students were able to return to school. Whereas the overall data showed that there was a significant decrease in anxiety over time for all participants, there was no suggestion in the data to differentiate these between male and female, resulting in no difference dependent on gender.
Conclusion
The author determined that the hypothesis was proven. Children do experience a reduction in anxiety with CBT intervention over time. However, this tends to...
Whereas the outcome of the study was overwhelming, it may not be appropriate to generalize the findings to an entire population, due to sample size.
Overall Effectiveness
There were several things that could have increased the effectiveness of this study. First of all, the hypothesis was not pinpointed enough. The study should have been more of a study of the overall effectiveness of the two types of CBT intervention. Although the study did discuss that the two types have some overlapping elements, they are different methods altogether, with a great degree of variety of parental involvement. One thing proven that was not even hypothesized was the result that gender had no indication of success or failure of CBT intervention treatment for anxiety, meaning that the same treatment for both a boy and a girl could be assumed to come out the same, pending all other like variables.
The discussion of the increase of school performance and functionality was not clearly tested in this study. Rather, it used scores and forecasts of how the decreased anxiety scores correlated with success. Whereas the scores did correlate with increased attendance, further and more defined studies would have to be created and conducted to determine the level of increase of school performance itself.
Finally, the sample size creates limitations on the generability of the results. Although the results did have overwhelming numbers, a sample size of 38 is inadequate to appropriate to other populations. However, it does raise awareness for educators and parents alike that school and social problems may have a root with an anxiety disorder and that it should not be discounted before an official diagnosis can discount such a cause.
Source Used
Wood, Jeffrey (March 2006) "Effect of anxiety reduction on children's school performance and social…
