Nothing new since “Little Hans” and “Little Peter”?

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. They begin very early, are stable in a substantial proportion of cases, and represent an important risk factor for the occurrence of a mental disorder in adulthood. Treatment research in recent years has shown that anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence can be treated effectively. However, the efficacy of psychotherapy has so far been very well established only for behavioral interventions; the evidence for psychodynamic interventions or non-behaviorally oriented family therapy is less satisfactory. Current randomized treatment studies demonstrate that even preschool children can be treated effectively with cognitive behavioral therapy. Contrary to long-held assumptions, involving parents in treatment does not appear to result in further improvement in treatment success. Questions concerning the effectiveness of disorder-specific treatment approaches and combination treatments involving psychotherapy and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are increasingly being addressed in treatment research. In addition to “classic” CBT programs, there are initial promising indications of the effectiveness of new treatment concepts such as attention bias modification (ABM) or computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy.