TITLE:
Reducing parental anxiety using a family based intervention for youth mental health: A randomized controlled trial
AUTHORS:
Melanie D. Bertino, Karen Richens, Tess Knight, John W. Toumbourou, Lina Ricciardelli, Andrew J. Lewis
KEYWORDS:
Adolescent; Parenting; Anxiety; Depression; Attachment; Randomized Controlled Trial
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.3 No.1A,
February
26,
2013
ABSTRACT: This paper presents
findings on parent anxiety and attachment relationship style from the Deakin
Family Options (DFO) pilot study, a randomized controlled pilot study comparing a
family-based treatment (BEST Plus), versus a youth
only treatment (CBT) versus a group who received both of these treatments
(COMBINED). Eligible participants were families with a young person (aged 12 -
25 years) with a high prevalence mental health problem. Youth from
participating families scored in the clinical or subclinical range for
depression, anxiety and/or substance misuse symptoms on standardized measures
during the initial assessment. The collected sample was drawn from regional and
urban centers in Victoria, Australia and allocated to treatment condition using
a simple randomization procedure (parallel design). It was hypothesized that
families receiving the BEST Plus would experience greater reductions in youth
and parent mental health symptoms, and improved parent-child relationships,
compared with those in the CBT condition. This paper describes and discusses
changes in parent anxiety and parent attachment, according to whether the
parent participated in a treatment (BEST Plus) or did not (NONBEST Plus).
Participants were blind to the study hypotheses. In total 71 parent
participants returned pre data and were allocated to a treatment group. In this
paper, data from parent participants who completed pre and post measures (n = 48) and pre, post, and 6-month follow-up measures (n = 28) on anxiety and attachment were analyzed by group (BEST
Plus versus NONBEST Plus). The results of this study suggest that parent
anxiety decreased significantly more following parent involvement in a group
treatment, than for parents that did not receive treatment. Unexpectedly,
avoidant attachment increased in the no treatment group, but remained
relatively stable following the BEST Plus group. There were no significant
findings in relation to compulsive traits and anxious attachment. These
findings are discussed in light of the study limitations.