Zepeda Michelle S, Deighton Stephanie, Markova Veronika, Madsen Joshua W, Racine Nicole
University of Calgary.
Cogn Behav Pract. 2023 May;30(2):208-217. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2021.10.001. Epub 2021 Oct 22.
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted extensive disruptions to the daily lives of children and adolescents worldwide, which has been associated with an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms in youth. However, due to public health measures, in-person psychosocial care was initially reduced, causing barriers to mental health care access. This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of iCOPE with COVID-19, a brief telemental health intervention for children and adolescents to address anxiety symptoms. Sessions were provided exclusively using videoconferencing technology. Feasibility and acceptability were measured with client satisfaction data. The main outcome measure for effectiveness was anxiety symptom severity measured using the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED). Results indicated that the treatment was well accepted by participants. Significant reductions in anxiety were noted for social anxiety, and were observed to be trending towards a mean decrease for total anxiety. The findings suggest that this brief telemental health intervention focused on reducing anxiety related to COVID-19 is acceptable and feasible to children and adolescents. Future research using a large sample and with a longer follow-up period could inform whether symptom decreases are sustained over time.
新冠疫情对全球儿童和青少年的日常生活造成了广泛干扰，这与年轻人焦虑和抑郁症状的增加有关。然而，由于公共卫生措施，面对面的心理社会护理最初有所减少，导致获得心理健康护理存在障碍。本研究调查了iCOPE with COVID-19（一项针对儿童和青少年解决焦虑症状的简短远程心理健康干预措施）的可行性、可接受性和初步有效性。课程完全通过视频会议技术提供。通过客户满意度数据来衡量可行性和可接受性。有效性的主要结果指标是使用儿童焦虑及相关障碍筛查量表（SCARED）测量的焦虑症状严重程度。结果表明，该治疗受到参与者的广泛接受。社交焦虑方面的焦虑显著降低，总焦虑也观察到有平均下降的趋势。研究结果表明，这种专注于减少与新冠疫情相关焦虑的简短远程心理健康干预措施对儿童和青少年来说是可接受且可行的。未来使用大样本且随访期更长的研究可以了解症状减轻是否能随时间持续。
