Guided self-help for childhood anxiety problems: a comparison with usual care

INTERVENTION: Guided CBT Self‐help versus Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) 1. Guided CBT Self‐help Parents will be given a self‐help book to work through and parents will have 4 face‐to‐face sessions with a therapist and 4 telephone sessions over an 8 week period, with a total of 5 hours of therapist contact. 2. Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) involving an initial and a final face‐to‐face session with the parents and child and 4 sessions in between with the child, totalling 5 hours of therapist contact. Both groups will be reassessed after the completion of treatment and at 6 months post‐treatment. CONDITION: Anxiety ; Mental and Behavioural Disorders ; Anxiety disorder, unspecified PRIMARY OUTCOME: The primary indicator of recovery is that the child's difficulties with anxiety are 'much' or 'very much' improved on the basis of clinical global impression as assessed post‐treatment by an independent assessor, blind to treatment group and trained to a high level of reliability in the use of the measure. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Anxiety severity is assessed using the ADIS with parent and child and self‐report questionnaires of anxiety symptoms, and the impact of anxiety on the child's life.; The outcome measure for cost‐effectiveness will be the improvement status (much/very much improved), as well as a measure of 'days off school avoided' and generic quality of life as assessed by the child friendly EuroQol EQ‐5D and CHU9D‐c/p. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Children aged 5‐12 years meeting standard PCAMHS criteria and with anxiety associated with clinical impairment as the primary presenting problem.