{"title":"School-based intervention for anxiety using group cognitive behavior therapy in Pakistan: a feasibility randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Saman Ijaz, Iffat Rohail, Shahid Irfan","doi":"10.1186/s41155-024-00311-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Anxiety and mood disorders are the main cause of illness in people under the age of 25, accounting for 45% of the global disease burden, whereas 4.6% of teenagers aged 15 to 19 are predicted to experience anxiety. Pakistan country, with a population of 200 million, has the worst mental health indicators and fewer than 500 psychiatrists. Despite the existence of various treatments for anxiety, this goes unrecognized and untreated. Due to a lack of awareness, evaluation, prevention, and interventional programs related to being implemented among adolescents in Pakistan, there is a rise in mental health issues in the earlier years of life. It calls for a critical need for indigenous, evidence-based interventions. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based interventions to reduce anxiety symptoms among school children in Pakistan.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study was a pre-post design, two-arm, single-blinded, feasibility, randomized controlled trial. Thirty-four participants (experimental group, n = 17; control group, n = 17) were recruited from four semi-government schools in Rawalpindi with a mean age of 15 (M = 15, SD = 0.73). Two instruments Beck Anxiety Inventory for Youth (BAI-Y II) and BASC-3 Behavioural and Emotional Screening System Student (BESS-SF) were used to assess the severity of symptoms. Participants in the intervention arm received eight-group therapy CBT sessions. A two-way factorial analysis was used to examine the efficacy of CBT in reducing symptom severity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study's findings showed that in comparison to the wait-list control group, CBT successfully improved anxiety symptoms among school children while enhancing their social skills.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study will help improve the treatment for anxiety in Pakistan by prioritizing school-based intervention and group-based CBT intervention.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>The trial has been registered at the American Economic Association's registry for randomized controlled trials.</p><p><strong>Rct id: </strong>AEARCTR-0009551 . Registered 2022-07-04.</p>","PeriodicalId":46901,"journal":{"name":"Psicologia-Reflexao E Critica","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11333417/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psicologia-Reflexao E Critica","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-024-00311-4","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Anxiety and mood disorders are the main cause of illness in people under the age of 25, accounting for 45% of the global disease burden, whereas 4.6% of teenagers aged 15 to 19 are predicted to experience anxiety. Pakistan country, with a population of 200 million, has the worst mental health indicators and fewer than 500 psychiatrists. Despite the existence of various treatments for anxiety, this goes unrecognized and untreated. Due to a lack of awareness, evaluation, prevention, and interventional programs related to being implemented among adolescents in Pakistan, there is a rise in mental health issues in the earlier years of life. It calls for a critical need for indigenous, evidence-based interventions. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based interventions to reduce anxiety symptoms among school children in Pakistan.
Methods: This study was a pre-post design, two-arm, single-blinded, feasibility, randomized controlled trial. Thirty-four participants (experimental group, n = 17; control group, n = 17) were recruited from four semi-government schools in Rawalpindi with a mean age of 15 (M = 15, SD = 0.73). Two instruments Beck Anxiety Inventory for Youth (BAI-Y II) and BASC-3 Behavioural and Emotional Screening System Student (BESS-SF) were used to assess the severity of symptoms. Participants in the intervention arm received eight-group therapy CBT sessions. A two-way factorial analysis was used to examine the efficacy of CBT in reducing symptom severity.
Results: This study's findings showed that in comparison to the wait-list control group, CBT successfully improved anxiety symptoms among school children while enhancing their social skills.
Conclusion: This study will help improve the treatment for anxiety in Pakistan by prioritizing school-based intervention and group-based CBT intervention.
Trial registration: The trial has been registered at the American Economic Association's registry for randomized controlled trials.
期刊介绍：
Psicologia: Reflexão & Crítica is a journal published three times a year by Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia do Desenvolvimento (Psychology Graduate Program) of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul). Its objective is to publish original works in the psychology field: articles, short reports on research and reviews as well as to present to the scientific community texts which reflect a significant contribution for the psychology field. The short title of the journal is Psicol. Refl. Crít. It must be used regarding bibliographies, footnotes, as well as bibliographical strips and references.
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