But I am scared… Impact, transmission, and effectiveness of treatment of childhood anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders are by far the most prevalent mental health disorders in children and adolescents. Although anxiety disorders have been associated with negative consequences, not all children with anxiety disorders are receiving help to overcome their anxiety. This dissertation shows that the impact of childhood anxiety disorders is in some domains comparable to that of developmental disorders such as ADHD and ASD. Moreover, mothers and fathers of children with anxiety disorders often suffer from anxiety disorders themselves. It is known that CBT is the most effective treatment of anxiety disorders in children, with up to two-third of the treated children overcoming their primary anxiety disorder. The research in this dissertation examined a modular treatment program, in which the therapist is free to choose certain modules of an evidence-based CBT. Results showed that modular CBT seems a feasible way of treatment of childhood (social) anxiety disorders and is potentially cost-effective due to the relatively low mean number of sessions, limited training and supervision of therapists. Future research needs to continue to address the question ‘for whom does therapy work (and why)?’ in order to optimize treatment outcome for each individual child.