Individual research recommendation details

Recommendation ID

CG159/2

Question

Specific versus generic CBT for children and young people with social anxiety disorder:- What is the clinical and cost effectiveness of specific CBT for children and young people with social anxiety disorder compared with generic anxiety-focused CBT?

Any explanatory notes
(if applicable)

Why this is important:- Children and young people with social anxiety disorder have commonly been treated with psychological interventions that cover a broad range of anxiety disorders, rather than interventions specifically focused on social anxiety disorder. This approach may be considered to be easier and cheaper to deliver, but emerging evidence suggests that children and young people with social anxiety disorder may do less well with these generic treatments than those with other anxiety disorders. There have, however, been no direct comparisons of treatment outcomes using generic compared with social anxiety-specific treatment programmes.
This question should be answered using an RCT design, reporting short- and medium-term outcomes (including cost-effectiveness) with a follow-up of at least 12 months. The outcomes should be assessed by structured clinical interviews, parent- and self-reports using validated questionnaires and objective measures of behaviour. The study needs to be large enough to determine the presence of clinically important effects, and mediators and moderators (in particular the child or young person's age) should be investigated.

Source guidance details

Comes from guidance

Social anxiety disorder: recognition, assessment and treatment

Number

CG159

Date issued

May 2013

Other details