Preliminary Study of Resilience-Based Group Therapy for Improving the Functioning of Anxious Children

There is a lack of research examining the feasibility of group psychotherapy interventions for anxious children in private clinical service settings. Furthermore, no research to date has examined the effectiveness of resilience-based interventions for helping children with anxiety disorders. The present study aims to examine the effectiveness of a resilience-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) group psychotherapy, the Resilience Builder Program(A (R)) (RBP), for improving the social, emotional, and family functioning of anxious children in a private clinical setting. Participants consisted of 22 children with an anxiety disorder aged 7-12 (81.8 % generalized anxiety disorder; M age = 9.93; 63 % male) enrolled at a private psychotherapy practice in RBP, a 12-week manualized group treatment that targets social competence using resilience skills (i.e., affect and behavior regulation, flexibility/adaptability, social problem-solving, proactive orientation) Following the completion of RBP, results showed that parents and teachers reported significant decreases in problem behavior. In addition, parents reported significant decreases in depressive symptoms and improved family functioning domains of problem behaviors and communication. Teachers reported reduced internalizing symptoms, somatic problems, and socially odd behaviors, as well as improvements in communication skills and resilience. Moreover, children reported significant improvement in their positive and negative emotions, as well as their emotional control. Findings from the present study suggest preliminary support for the effectiveness of RBP for improving anxious children's social, emotional, and family functioning.