BEHAVIOUR CHANGE Vol. 18, No. 1 2001 pp. 36–50 36 Prevention has been touted as the most impor- tant direction for researchers and clinicians to focus on in dealing with anxiety disorders during childhood and adolescence (Spence, 1994). It is now widely accepted that anxiety disorders are the most common form of psycho- logical distress self-reported throughout this period of the lifespan (Ollendick & King, 1998). Indeed, current estimates of the preva- lence of anxiety in children are alarming. Recent research suggests that around one in six children experience anxiety severe enough to interfere with their daily functioning (Boyd, Kostanski, Gullone, Ollendick, & Shek, in press; Dadds, Spence, Holland, Barrett, & Laurens, 1997). Beyond the high prevalence rates, anxiety disorders are associated with a wide range of psychosocial impairments (Last, Hanson, & Franco, 1997; Mattison, 1992). They have also been identified as significant risk factors for other disorders, particularly other anxiety disorders and depression (Cole et al., 1998; Orvaschel, Lewinsohn, & Seeley, 1995) and tend to be stable during childhood and adolescence, continuing into adulthood if left untreated (Cantwell & Baker, 1989; Keller, Lavori, Wunder, Beardslee, & Schwartz, 1992). In addition to the personal suffering experi- enced by children and their families, anxiety disorders also have a tremendous cost to society. According to a study sponsored by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, anxiety disorders cost the nation more that $42 billion dollars a year (Greenburg et al., 1999). Australia is likely to evidence a similar pattern of expense, with more than half of this cost associated with the repeated visits to health care services, with sufferers attempting to seek relief from anxiety symptoms that frequently mimic physical illnesses. Taken together, these factors A Universal Prevention Trial of Anxiety and Depressive Symptomatology in Childhood: Preliminary Data from an Australian Study Hayley M. Lowry-Webster, Paula M. Barrett, and Mark R. Dadds Griffith University This paper describes the development and preliminary findings of a program designed to prevent the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms in children aged 10 to 13 years. Using a universal prevention approach, a total of 594 children were randomly assigned on a class-by-class basis to either a 10-session family group CBT program (FRIENDS) routinely implemented as part of the school curriculum, or to a comparison group. Pre-post intervention changes were examined universally, and for children who scored above the clini- cal cut-off for anxiety at pretest. Results revealed that children in the FRIENDS intervention group reported fewer anxiety symptoms, regardless of their risk status, than the comparison group at posttest. In terms of reported levels of depression, only the high anxiety group who completed the FRIENDS intervention evidenced improvements at posttest. Overall, these preliminary results appear to support the benefits of a school-based universal cognitive- behavioural intervention program. Implications of this study are discussed, and long-term follow-up measures are currently underway. Address for correspondence: Hayley Webster, Applied Psychology, Giffith University, Mt Gravatt Campus, Brisbane Australia. Email h.lowry@gu.edu.au