Treatment of Pathological Worry in Children With Acceptance‐Based Behavioural Therapy and a Multisensory Learning Aide: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective The primary objective of this study was to provide an initial test of the efficacy of acceptance‐based behavioural therapy in reducing pathological worry and anxious symptomology in children. A secondary objective was to examine the benefit of supplementing standard acceptance‐based behavioural therapy with a multisensory learning aide (MSA). The MSA provides kinaesthetic, tactile, and visual stimuli to facilitate children's understanding of acceptance‐based behavioural therapy principles and the development of acceptance‐ and mindfulness‐based skills. Method Two variations of an acceptance‐based behavioural therapy treatment were administered over 8 weeks to children aged 7–11 years: a standard acceptance‐based behavioural therapy treatment condition, and a condition that supplemented acceptance‐based behavioural therapy with a novel MSA. Anxious symptomology and pathological worry were measured at pre‐treatment and post‐treatment. A program evaluation questionnaire was also administered to parents at post‐treatment. Results Results demonstrated that children in the acceptance‐based behavioural therapy with a novel MSA condition reported significant reductions in worry and anxious symptomology at post‐treatment. Furthermore, parents in this condition reported the model to be effective in helping their children understand concepts of acceptance, defusion, and meta‐cognition. Conclusions The present study found that acceptance‐based behavioural therapy, adapted for children and supplemented with a novel multisensory aide designed specifically to enhance treatment, led to reductions in child‐reported worry and parent‐reported anxiety. Parental feedback suggested that the multisensory aide was highly acceptable, and that it may have facilitated children's understanding of abstract therapeutic principles.

A systematic review of the use of acceptance and commitment therapy in supporting parents

“…Single Case Design Gauntlett-Gilbert, Connell, Clinch, and McCracken (2013) No standardized parent outcome measure used Goodarzi, Soltani, Seddigh, Hamdami, and Jobaneh (2017) Study not in English Hadlandsmyth, White, Nesin, and Greco (2013) Theoretical paper Hayes et al (2011) Parents not involved in treatment Makki et al (2018) Parents not involved in treatment Masuda, Cohen, Wicksell, Kemani, and Johnson (2011) Single case design Merwin, Zucker, and Timko (2013) No inferential statistics used Meagher, Chessor, and Fogliati (2018) Intervention not ACT Moghanloo, Moghanloo,and Moazezi (2015) Parents not involved in treatment Petts, Duenas, and Gaynor (2017) Parents not involved in treatment Reid, Gill, Gore, and Brady (2016) Qualitative study Samani, Sajjadian, and Shadehee (2016) Study not available in English Szabo, Willis, and Palinski (2019) No parent report outcome Thurstone, Hull, Timmerman, and Emrick (2017) Parents not involved in treatment Wicksell, Melin, and Olsson (2017) No standardized parent outcome measure used Wicksell, Dahl, Magnusson, and Olsson (2005) No standardized parent outcome measure used Woidneck, Morrison, and Twohig (2014) Parents not involved in treatment…”

Cognitive Fusion Mediates the Relationship between Dispositional Mindfulness and Negative Affects: A Study in a Sample of Spanish Children and Adolescent School Students

“…Recent reviews have reported that mindful-based interventions (MBI) are feasible for young participants [1]. MBI for children and adolescents are promising initiatives, as there is evidence of their usefulness in treating childhood anxiety [2], reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder [3], and their pathological concerns [4].…”

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Systematic Literature Review of Prevention and Intervention Programs for Mental Health Difficulties in Children and Young People

“…Three studies used an RCT design to compare ACT with another active treatment (Hancock et al, 2018;Meagher, Chessor & Fogliati, 2018;Swain et al, 2015b). Hancock et al (2018) and Swain et al (2015b) used block randomisation to compare ACT with a CBT intervention as well as a waiting list control, and Meagher et al (2018) randomised participants on an individual basis to compare Acceptance-Based Behaviour Therapy with Acceptance-Based Behaviour Therapy in conjunction with a multisensory learning aide. Four studies used an RCT design to compare ACT to a non-active control group (Buckhardt et al, 2016(Buckhardt et al, , 2017Lee et al, 2018;Van der Gucht et al, 2017).…”

“…using a number of research sites, including young people of different ethnicities and socioeconomic status). Six studies used samples which were moderately or completely representative of the target population, whereas two were slightly representative (Buckhardt et al, 2017;Timko et al, 2015) and two were not representative (or did not provide information about the target group) (Barney, Field, Morrison, & Twohig, 2017;Meagher et al, 2018). Few studies provided detailed descriptions of the data collection procedure, with four studies providing a complete description (Barney et al, 2017;Buckhardt et al, 2017;Hancock et al, 2018;Van der Gucht et al, 2017).…”