J. AM. ACAD CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 39:10, OCTOBER 2000 1309 ABSTRACT Objective: To report on a brief parent-child group therapy program for children with anxiety disorders. Method: Twenty-four children with an anxiety disorder and their parents participated in a 1 O-session treatment. Children were evaluated at pretreatment (T,), posttreatment (T2), 12-month follow-up (T3), and 36-month follow- up (T4). Ten children were also assessed on entering a waiting period (To). Results: There were no significant symptomatic changes between To and T,. Anxiety symptoms decreased significantly during the treatment and follow-up periods. Depressive symptoms changed only during the follow-up period. The percentage of children with no current anxiety disorder was 71 % at T2 and 91 % at T4' Children of mothers with an anxiety disorder improved more than children of nonanxious mothers, whereas the anxiety level of anxious mothers remained stable. Conclusions: Brief parent-child group psychotherapy may serve as a time-limited, cost-effective, and efficient intervention. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2000. 39(10):1309-1312. Key Words: anxiety disorder, parent-child, group psychotherapy. Case Series: Brief Parent-Child Group Therapy for Childhood Anxiety Disorders Using a Manual-Based Cognitive- Behavioral Technique PAZ TOREN, M.D., LEO \VOLMER, M.A., BATIA ROSENTHAL, M.A., SOFIA ELDAR, M.D., SHARON KOREN, B.A., MICHAL LASK, M.D., RONIT WEIZMAN, and NATHANIEL LAOR, M.D., PH.D. Childhood anxiety causes marked distress and has implica- tions for adult functioning (Kendall, 1992). The estimated incidence of childhood anxiety disorders ranges from 5.7% to 17.7% (Costello and A.'1gold, 1995), particularly overanxious disorder (2.6%-15.4%), separation anxiety disorder (5%), and simple phobia (5%). The higher prev- alence of anxiety disorders in parents of children with anxiety disorders than in parents of nonanxious children (Last et al., 1991; Weissman, 1988) supports the assumptions that family dynamics propagate morbidity and that genetic load may magnify familial factors (Barrett et al., 1996). Family and cognitive-behavioral individual psycho- therapies have been proven effective in the treatment of children with anxiety disorders (Beidel and Francis, 1995; Kendall, 1994). However, economic restraints have prompted research into more cost-effective interventions (family, group, or integration of both) (Trad, 1994). Accepted March 21,2000. From the Tel Aviv-Brǘll Community Mental Health Center and the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel (all authors), and the Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT (DI: Lam). Reprint requests to Dr Toren, Tel Aviv Community Mental Health Center, 9 Hatzvi Street, Tel-Aviv, 67197. Israel. 0890-8567/00/391O-I309©2000 by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Data on cognitive-behavioral family-group treatment yielded a significant proportion of disorder-free children after treatment (65%) and 12 months later (85%) (Barrett, 1998; see also Mendlowitz et al., 1999). The aim of this study is to present the results achieved with our child-parent group treatment program. METHOD Subjects Participants were 24 consecutive children (14 boys, 10 girls) attending the Child and Adolescent Clinic of the Tel-Aviv Community Mental Health Center and their 40 parents (8 single- parent families). Children were 6 w 13 years old (mean ± SD = 9,6 ± 1.7 years) with a principal diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder (52%), overanxious disorder (4%), or both (44%) and no prior drug treatment. Children with neurological disorders or mental retardation were excluded. Co-morbid conditions included simple phobia (17%), attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (25%), chronic tics (12%), enuresis (8%), and minor depressive disorder, mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, and encopresis (4% each). Twelve mothers (50%) had no anxiety disorder, 11 (46%) had generalized anxiety disorder (one co-morbid with chronic minor depressive disorder), and 1 (4%) had panic disorder. Thirteen fathers (82%) had no anxiety disorder and one each (6%) had major depressive disorder, major depressive disorder with organic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Families with a Global Assessment of Relational מאמר זה זכ לשנת ה בפרס המאמר המצטיי2000