Chiaying Wei

Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxious Youth: Feasibility and Initial Outcomes.

We developed and evaluated a brief (8-session) version of cognitive-behavioral therapy (BCBT) for anxiety disorders in youth ages 6 to 13. This report describes the design and development of the BCBT program and intervention materials (therapist treatment manual and child treatment workbook) and an initial evaluation of child treatment outcomes. Twenty-six children who met diagnostic criteria for a principal anxiety diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and/or social phobia were enrolled. Results suggest that BCBT is a feasible, acceptable, and beneficial treatment for anxious youth. Future research is needed to examine the relative efficacy of BCBT and CBT for child anxiety in a randomized controlled trial.

Assessing Anxiety in Youth with the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children.

The present study examined the psychometric properties, including discriminant validity and clinical utility, of the youth self-report and parent-report forms of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) among youth with anxiety disorders. The sample included parents and youth (N = 488, 49.6% male) ages 7 to 17 who participated in the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study. Although the typical low agreement between parent and youth self-reports was found, the MASC evidenced good internal reliability across MASC subscales and informants. The main MASC subscales (i.e., Physical Symptoms, Harm Avoidance, Social Anxiety, and Separation/Panic) were examined. The Social Anxiety and Separation/Panic subscales were found to be significantly predictive of the presence and severity of social phobia and separation anxiety disorder, respectively. Using multiple informants improved the accuracy of prediction. The MASC subscales demonstrated good psychometric properties and clinical utilities in identifying youth with anxiety disorders.

Contextual factors and anxiety in minority and European American youth presenting for treatment across two urban university clinics

The current study compared ethnic minority and European American clinically-referred anxious youth (N=686; 2-19 years) on internalizing symptoms (i.e., primary anxiety and comorbid depression) and neighborhood context. Data were provided from multiple informants including youth, parents, and teachers. Internalizing symptoms were measured by the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, Child Depression Inventory, Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Report Form. Diagnoses were based on the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children. Neighborhood context was measured using Census tract data (i.e., owner-occupied housing, education level, poverty level, and median home value). Ethnic minority and European American youth showed differential patterns of diagnosis and severity of anxiety disorders. Further, ethnic minority youth lived in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. Ethnicity and neighborhood context appear to have an additive influence on internalizing symptoms in clinically-referred anxious youth. Implications for evidence-based treatments are discussed.

Child Perceived Parenting Behavior: Childhood Anxiety and Related Symptoms

Youth ages 7–14 (N = 175; 52.6% male) and parents were evaluated. Fathers and mothers acceptance, psychological control, and firm/behavioral control were measured. Children were diagnosed, and self-, parent-, and teacher-reports were gathered. Children with anxiety disorders perceived higher parental control than children without. Regressions found child-reported maternal acceptance was associated with lower child anxiety, depression, and externalizing, whereas psychological control predicted higher symptoms. Child-reported depressive symptoms moderated the maternal psychological control and childrens anxiety relationship (the relationship was weaker for anxious children with more depressive symptoms). Findings support that childrens perception of parenting behavior is associated with anxiety.

Parenting behaviors and anxious self-talk in youth and parents.

The present study examined the association between parental anxious self-talk, parenting behaviors, and youth anxious self-talk. Parents and youth ages 7 to 14 (M = 10.17; N = 208; 53% male) seeking treatment for anxiety were evaluated for anxiety symptoms, youth anxious self-talk, parental anxious self-talk, and youth-perceived parenting behavior. Youth and parental anxious self-talk were assessed by both child and parent self-reports; youth-perceived parenting behaviors were assessed by youth-reports. Parenting behaviors included separate ratings of paternal and maternal (a) acceptance, (b) psychological control, and (c) firm/behavioral control. Correlational analyses revealed that maternal anxious self-talk, but not paternal anxious self-talk, was significantly associated with youths anxious self-talk. Maternal anxious self-talk had an inverse association with youth-perceived maternal acceptance, but was not associated with youth-perceived maternal psychological or behavioral control. Higher youth-perceived maternal acceptance was significantly associated with lower youth anxious self-talk. Youth-perceived maternal acceptance partially mediated the association between mothers anxious self-talk and youths anxious self-talk. However, this mediation effect disappeared when taking into account youth depressive symptoms. Results are discussed in relation to clinical implications and future directions in research.