The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Children's Anxiety in Restructured Families

Failure to resolve children's problems in restructured families can dramatically increase anxiety disorders in these children and have a lasting impact on the child's life. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on children’s anxiety in restructured families.

This research was of a quasi-experimental (pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with the control group). The sample size consisted of 20 children in Shahreza city in 2019, who were selected using purposeful sampling among eligible children; they were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental (10 children) and control (10 children). The children in the experimental group received cognitive-behavioral therapy for children of 7 to 14 years old according to the instruction of Seiler (2008), which was held in 10 sessions of 45 to 60 minutes. The Achenbach questionnaire (parental form) was used to collect data. The data were reported in two descriptive and inferential sections. Mean and standard deviation were used in the descriptive part, and repeated measures analysis of variance was used in the inferential section.

The results showed that the mean score of anxiety in children in the experimental group was significantly different from the control, and the cognitive-behavioral intervention was effective (p=0/001).

Based on the results of this study, cognitive-behavioral therapy can be used to reduce children's anxiety in restructured families. Therefore, therapists are advised to use it in the treatment of anxiety disorders among children in structured families.