Emotional Awareness Predicts Specific Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Outcomes for Anxious Youth.

Emotional Awareness Predicts Specific Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Outcomes for Anxious Youth. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2019 Jan 02;: Authors: Davis JP, Kendall PC, Suveg CM Abstract The current study examined emotional awareness as a predictor of differential outcomes for youth treated for an anxiety disorder. 37 youth ages 7-15 received either individual cognitive-behavioral therapy or family cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and/or social phobia. Diagnoses were determined by independent evaluators, following semi-structured interviews (ADIS-IV-C/P) with youth and their parents. Self-report questionnaires, including the multidimensional anxiety scale for children and the emotion expressivity scale for children, were completed at pre- and posttreatment. Youth with higher levels of pretreatment emotional awareness had better treatment outcomes than youth with lower levels of emotional awareness, with specific regard to improved ability to cope with worry. Findings suggest that higher levels of emotional awareness facilitate better specific outcomes for anxious youth. Findings highlight the importance of understanding the emotions associated with worry during the treatment process. PMID: 30603936 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Child Psychiatry and Human Development - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Child Psychiatry Hum Dev Source Type: research