A solution‐focussed cognitive group intervention for event anxiety in vulnerable children: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract Vulnerable children have experienced severe life events that may have damaged their self‐esteem and destroyed their inherent potential for survival and development. As a result, they may be more likely to experience psychological problems such as withdrawal, depression, and anxiety. This study aims to combine cognitive behavioural therapy and solution‐focussed brief therapy to develop an effective operational intervention to reduce anxiety related to severe life events in vulnerable children. This intervention contained six stages and a 1 month follow‐up test with 39 vulnerable children (mean age = 8.74, standard deviation = 1.76) randomly assigned to the intervention group (19 participants) and control group (20 participants). The event anxiety and self‐esteem in vulnerable children were assessed by using the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale, the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale‐Short, and the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale. There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the baseline levels of self‐esteem, event impact, and anxiety. After three intervention phases, the intervention group had a significant increase in self‐esteem and a significant decrease in event anxiety. The changes were stable over time (except for self‐esteem). The results suggest that solution‐focussed cognitive group intervention is an effective method for reducing anxiety related to negative life events in vulnerable children. Furthermore, we have put forth recommendations for future studies that can be utilized to address the limitations identified in this study.