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The Length of Child Anxiety Treatment in a Regional Health System

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Abstract

Anxiety disorders are often undertreated due to unsuccessful dissemination of evidence-based treatments (EBTs). Lack of empirical data regarding the typical length of treatment in clinical settings may hamper the development of clinically relevant protocols. The current study examined billing records for 335 children ages 7–17 years to quantify the treatment received for newly diagnosed anxiety disorders within a regional health system. The vast majority of patients did not receive a sufficient number of appointments to complete the typical cognitive behavioral therapy protocol or reach the sessions introducing exposure. Although half of the sample received pharmacotherapy, the vast majority received fewer follow-up appointments than participants in pharmacotherapy research studies. Further, the type of treatment (i.e., number of sessions and medication) differed depending on utilization of specialty care. These results underscore the need to develop brief and flexible EBT protocols that can be standardized and implemented in community practice.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the International OCD Foundation. The lead author and the author’s institution receive royalties from the sale of an anxiety treatment application for the Apple operating system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Mayo Bldg West 11, 200 First St., SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Stephen P. H. Whiteside, Chelsea M. Ale, Mark W. Olsen, Bridget K. Biggs & Kendra Homan

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychology, Marshfield Clinic, Eau Claire, WI, USA

    Brennan Young

  3. Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Melissa S. Gregg & Jennifer R. Geske

Authors
  1. Stephen P. H. Whiteside
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  2. Chelsea M. Ale
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  3. Brennan Young
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  4. Mark W. Olsen
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  5. Bridget K. Biggs
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  6. Melissa S. Gregg
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  7. Jennifer R. Geske
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  8. Kendra Homan
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Correspondence to Stephen P. H. Whiteside.

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Whiteside, S.P.H., Ale, C.M., Young, B. et al. The Length of Child Anxiety Treatment in a Regional Health System. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 47, 985–992 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-016-0628-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-016-0628-5

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