One-Year follow-up effects of a cognitive behavior therapy-based transdiagnostic program for emotional problems in young children: A school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: The present study examined the long-term efficacy of a transdiagnostic prevention program, Super Skills for Life (SSL), among young children with emotional problems. SSL is based on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral activation, and social skills training.Methods: One-hundred twenty-three Spanish-speaking children, aged 6 to 8 years, and their parents participated in the study. They were recruited from ten schools. Schools were randomly allocated to either the intervention (IG) or waiting-list control (WLC) groups. The children's parent completed a set of questionnaires to measure their child's anxiety and depressive symptoms, general difficulties and positive attributes, and psychosocial impairment. Parent's assessment at baseline and at a 12-month follow-up was assessed using an intent-to-treat approach.Results: The IG, compared to WLC group, showed significant baseline-to-follow-up reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as in behavioral difficulties and psychosocial impairment in various life domains. Limitations:The small sample size and the reliance on parental reports were the major limitations of this study. Conclusions:This study provides initial evidence of the long-term effects of SSL, suggesting that it is a promising indicated preventive intervention for young children with emotional problems.

Clinical Utility of an Internet-Delivered Version of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (iUP-A): A Pilot Open Trial

“…Most of these positive effects were associated with large and very large effect sizes, which is consistent with results of the UP-A reported by Ehrenreich-May's group [12,13,15], as well as with findings of our group related to the Spanish version of the UP-A [16,17]. These data are also consistent with the results reported by authors who administered Super Skills for Life, a T-CBT protocol that has been applied as an indicated prevention program for adolescents [51] and children [52] at risk of developing anxiety disorders.…”

Impact of a transdiagnostic prevention protocol for targeting adolescent anxiety and depression

“…The findings could be summarised as follows: first, as hypothesized and in line with previous studies Fernández-Martínez et al, 2020;Orgilés et al, 2020;Ramdhonee-Dowlot et al, 2021), total internalizing problems were significantly reduced from pre-test to follow-up assessments. Within the internalizing problems, significant reductions were found for somatic complaints, withdrawn and anxious/depressed subscales.…”

“…Recent studies have shown that the SSL is effective in reducing emotional problems such as anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as other forms of difficulties such as anxiety-related interferences, and peer and conduct problems among children and adolescents in school settings Fernández-Martínez et al, 2020;Orgilés et al, 2020) and in residential care institutions (Ramdhonee-Dowlot et al, 2021). However, studies that examined the role of gender, age, and school type in moderating the intervention outcome is lacking.…”

“…The specific objectives were: (1) to examine the effects of the SSL-A in reducing internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents; and (2) to examine the moderating role of gender, age, and school type on the benefit of the SSL-A. Based on recent promising findings of SSL Fernández-Martínez et al, 2020;Orgilés et al, 2020), it was hypothesized that at both post-treatment and six-month follow-up, compared to those in a waitlist-control group, adolescents who participate in SSL-A would demonstrate improvements in internalizing (e.g., anxiety and depressive symptoms) and externalizing (e.g., conduct problems) symptoms. Being female and younger age are expected to moderate the intervention outcome .…”

Adapting an In-person Transdiagnostic Social Skills Program to Online Delivery: Technology to the Rescue

“…Additionally, transdiagnostic treatment methodologies, which are more cost-effective and increase accessibility (Barlow & Farchione, 2017), have become increasingly popular with school-aged youth due to rapidly changing developmental profiles and comorbidity (Chu et al, 2016). It has also been found to be effective with social skills treatment (Fernández-Martínez et al, 2020;Gale, 2011). While transdiagnostic treatment strategies have been shown to be effective for supporting youth, accessibility to in-person interventions is limited.…”