School-based prevention of anxiety and depression: a pilot study in Sweden

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent form of psychopathology in children. Anxiety disorders often begin early in life, involve great suffering, and predict psychiatric problems. Unfortunately, only a few children with anxiety disorders will receive effective treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of FRIENDS for Life, an Australian school-based prevention programme, with children from Sweden. Participants were 50 children, and the impact of the programme was measured at three time points on the outcomes of anxiety, depression, and general mental health. Results showed a decrease in depressive symptoms and difficulties, and an increase in strengths, for those children receiving the programme. For those children at risk for anxiety receiving the programme, the results also showed a decrease in anxiety symptoms. Overall, the study suggests that FRIENDS for Life could be a promising intervention for Swedish children.

[1]  K. Stark,et al.  Preventing childhood anxiety and depression: Testing the effectiveness of a schoolbased program in Mexico , 2013 .

[2]  Dan Richard,et al.  The Prevention of Child and Adolescent Anxiety: A Meta-analytic Review , 2011, Prevention Science.

[3]  Jacquelyn M. Briesch,et al.  Reducing the Prevalence of Anxiety in Children and Adolescents: An Evaluation of the Evidence Base for the FRIENDS for Life Program , 2010 .

[4]  T. Boat,et al.  Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities , 2009 .

[5]  Helen Christensen,et al.  Efficacy and effectiveness of school-based prevention and early intervention programs for anxiety. , 2009, Clinical psychology review.

[6]  W. Beardslee,et al.  The Prevention of Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Review , 2009, Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie.

[7]  Helene Loxton,et al.  Exploring the Effectiveness of the FRIENDS Program in Reducing Anxiety Symptoms among South African Children , 2008 .

[8]  C. Viswesvaran,et al.  Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Phobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents , 2008, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[9]  Alaattin Erkanli,et al.  What do childhood anxiety disorders predict? , 2007, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[10]  M. Lipsey,et al.  School-based interventions for aggressive and disruptive behavior: update of a meta-analysis. , 2007, American journal of preventive medicine.

[11]  P. Stallard,et al.  The FRIENDS Emotional Health Programme: Initial Findings from a School-Based Project. , 2007, Child and adolescent mental health.

[12]  M. Dadds,et al.  Long-Term Outcomes of an Australian Universal Prevention Trial of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Children and Youth: An Evaluation of the Friends Program , 2006, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[13]  P. Stallard,et al.  An evaluation of the FRIENDS programme: a cognitive behaviour therapy intervention to promote emotional resilience , 2005, Archives of Disease in Childhood.

[14]  Olga V. Demler,et al.  Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. , 2005, Archives of general psychiatry.

[15]  R. Rapee,et al.  A parent-report measure of children's anxiety: psychometric properties and comparison with child-report in a clinic and normal sample. , 2004, Behaviour research and therapy.

[16]  P. Barrett,et al.  A Longitudinal Study of Developmental Differences in Universal Preventive Intervention for Child Anxiety , 2003, Behaviour Change.

[17]  Sarah A. Mustillo,et al.  Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. , 2003, Archives of general psychiatry.

[18]  R. Kessler,et al.  Patterns and predictors of treatment contact after first onset of psychiatric disorders. , 2003, The American journal of psychiatry.

[19]  P. Barrett,et al.  A Universal Prevention Trial of Anxiety Symptomology during Childhood: Results at 1-Year Follow-up , 2003, Behaviour Change.

[20]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort difference on the children's depression inventory: A meta-analysis. , 2002 .

[21]  M. Dadds,et al.  Practitioner review: psychological management of anxiety disorders in childhood. , 2001, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[22]  C. Turner,et al.  Prevention of anxiety symptoms in primary school children: preliminary results from a universal school-based trial. , 2001, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[23]  M. Dadds,et al.  A Universal Prevention Trial of Anxiety and Depressive Symptomatology in Childhood: Preliminary Data from an Australian Study , 2001, Behaviour Change.

[24]  S. Spence,et al.  Prevention of childhood anxiety disorders. , 2000, Clinical psychology review.

[25]  J. Broman,et al.  Psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the “Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire” , 1999, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

[26]  Robert Goodman,et al.  Comparing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist: Is Small Beautiful? , 1999, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[27]  R. Goodman.  The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. , 1997, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[28]  R. Rapee,et al.  Family treatment of childhood anxiety: a controlled trial. , 1996, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[29]  B. Larsson,et al.  Prevalence and short‐term stability of depressive symptoms in schoolchildren , 1992, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica.

[30]  Paul A. Herzberg,et al.  Principles of Statistics , 1983 .

[31]  J. Fleiss,et al.  Intraclass correlations: uses in assessing rater reliability. , 1979, Psychological bulletin.

[32]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[33]  C. Essau,et al.  Psychometric properties of the Spence Child Anxiety Scale with adolescents from five European countries. , 2011, Journal of anxiety disorders.

[34]  I. Eckerlund,et al.  Program för att förebygga psykisk ohälsa hos barn : En systematisk litteraturöversikt , 2010 .

[35]  C. Essau,et al.  Frequency and patterns of mental health services utilization among adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders , 2005, Depression and anxiety.

[36]  P. Barrett.  Friends for Life: Group leaders' manual for children , 2005 .

[37]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort differences on the children's depression inventory: a meta-analysis. , 2002, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[38]  Harald Merckelbach,et al.  Correlations among two self-report questionnaires for measuring DSM-defined anxiety disorder symptoms in children: the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale , 2000 .

[39]  V. Cobham.  Family treatment of childhood anxiety , 1999 .

[40]  M. Coye,et al.  NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL AND INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE , 1998 .

[41]  S. Spence,et al.  Structure of anxiety symptoms among children: a confirmatory factor-analytic study. , 1997, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[42]  D. Rice,et al.  Economic costs of anxiety disorders. , 1996, Anxiety.

[43]  D. Cicchetti.  Guidelines, Criteria, and Rules of Thumb for Evaluating Normed and Standardized Assessment Instruments in Psychology. , 1994 .

[44]  S G West,et al.  The science of prevention. A conceptual framework and some directions for a national research program. , 1993, The American psychologist.

[45]  M. Kovacs.  The Children's Depression, Inventory (CDI). , 1985, Psychopharmacology bulletin.