Efficacy of Modular Cognitive Behavior Therapy(MCBT) on Reduction of Symptoms Separation Anxiety in 6-7 Year-Old Children

Separation anxiety in children is associated with negative impact on social adjustment and peer relationship, and is a predictor of psychological disorders in adolescent hood. Separation anxiety will persist into adulthood if it is neglected, facing the person with several difficulties therefore, identification of an effective method, such as Modular Cognitive Behavior Therapy (MCBT), for treating separation anxiety in children is aimed in this research.
This is a pilot study with pre-test, post-test, follow-up (two and three months), and control group. The statistical samples (76 children) were selected from 388 preschool and first-grade elementary school students with the symptoms of separation anxiety, using multi-stage stratified sampling design. The samples were divided into two groups (experimental and control) of 33 six-and-seven-year-old children. The experimental group received MCBT, whereas the control group did not. For collecting pre-test, post-test, two-month follow-up, and three-month follow-up data, the Child Symptom Inventory (CSI) was used.
Frequent measurement of the analysis of variance showed a significant difference between the two groups. Results also suggested that the effects of gender and sex, and interactions of the treatment method with gender and age were significant.
Discussion and Generally, results confirmed the effectiveness MCBT in reducing the symptoms of separation anxiety in six-and-seven-year-old girls and boys. Regarding that the method was more effective with boys, its application to them is recommended.