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Transdiagnostic Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression in Schools

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Abstract

Anxiety and unipolar depression are among the most common disorders affecting children and adolescents (Costello, Egger, & Angold, 2005). Anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SOP), separation anxiety disorder (SAD), and panic disorder (PD), are associated with cognitive, physiological, and emotional distresses and confer significant impairment across home, school, and social domains (Roblek & Piacentini, 2005). As a group, anxiety disorders affect between 6 and 18 % of youth (Woodward & Fergusson, 2001) and can contribute to significant and lasting impairment in social adjustment, academic functioning, and family relationships (Langley, Bergman, McCracken, & Piacentini, 2004; Ludwig, Lyon, & Ryan, Chap. 3). Major depressive disorder (MDD) can be diagnosed in as many as 20 % of teens in any given year (Lewinsohn, Hops, Roberts, Seeley, & Andrews, 1993), and its acute episodes (with intensive depressive symptoms lasting nearly every day for at least 2 weeks) are likely to be recurrent and associated with significant long-term outcomes (Lewinsohn, Clarke, Seeley, & Rohde, 1994; Sander, Herren, & Bishop, Chap. 5).

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Correspondence to Brian C. Chu Ph.D. .

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Chu, B.C., Johns, A., Hoffman, L. (2015). Transdiagnostic Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression in Schools. In: Flanagan, R., Allen, K., Levine, E. (eds) Cognitive and Behavioral Interventions in the Schools. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1972-7_6

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