Parents’ Impressions of Children’s CBT Treatment

Childhood anxiety disorders are widely treated with pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or both. A new study in Behavior Research and Therapy evaluated the attitudes and perceptions parents held regarding their children’s CBT or pharmacological treatment. The cohort of 71 parents rated CBT as more “acceptable, believable, and effective” in both the long- and short-terms than pharmacotherapy, although both were viewed favorably. Children’s treatment history also influenced the parents’ perceptions of pharmacotherapy; parents of children with no treatment history looked less favorably on pharmacotherapy than parents of children with treatment history. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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