Effectiveness of Metacognitive Therapy for Children (MCT-C) on Attentional Control and Attention bias in Children with Anxiety Disorders

The aim of present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Metacognitive Therapy for Children on increasing attentional control and reducing attention bias towards threat in anxious children. The present study was a Single-subject study with Multiple Baseline. The statistical sample of this study included all children aged 9 to 13 referred to the health centers of Qom city and according to the research literature in the field of single subject designs, 3 subjects were considered for the implementation of the treatment protocol. Data was collected using the Kiddie schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia- Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL), Attentional Control Scale for Children (ACS-C) and Dot Probe Task. The treatment protocol included 8 weekly individual sessions with children and 2 sessions with parents too. Data was analyzed using visual analysis, percentage of improvement and effect size (Cohen's d). The findings show that all three subjects had an increasing trend in attentional control and a decreasing trend in attention bias, so that the metacognitive therapy for children with the effect size (d=0/51) was an effective treatment in increasing children's attentional control. As well as, this treatment was effective in reducing attention bias towards threat with effect size (d= 3/37). Based on the results of this research, metacognitive therapy for children can be an effective Therapy in increasing attentional control and reducing attention bias towards threat in children with anxiety disorders.