SynthesisEvidence-based mental health2019
Six decades of preventing and treating childhood anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis to inform policy and practice.
Synthesis in Evidence-based mental health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of interventions for anxiety and depression in children and young people: an umbrella review of meta-analyses.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Facing fears in virtual worlds: A systematic review and meta-analysis on immersive VR therapy for children and adolescents with social anxiety and related disorders.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Parenting Practices in Families of Children With Comorbid ADHD and Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Child: care, health and development · 2026Pooled it
- Online Parenting Programs for Children's Behavioral and Emotional Problems: a Network Meta-Analysis.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2025Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of Preventative Interventions to Reduce Mental Health Problems in at-risk Children and Young People: A Systematic Review of Reviews.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Prevalence of childhood mental disorders in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis to inform policymaking.Evidence-based mental health · 2022Pooled it
- Predictors of dropout, time spent on the program and client satisfaction in an internet-based, telephone-assisted CBT anxiety program among elementary school children in a population-based sample.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of a transdiagnostic psychotherapy program for youth with common mental health problems.BMC health services research · 2022Trial
- Developing a primary care-based cognitive behavioral intervention for anxiety in children through a participatory approach: a qualitative study.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Transdiagnostic prevention in youth mental health, Part II: interventions.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Secondary Youth-Level Mechanisms of Change in Parent Training for Anxious Youth.Child & youth care forum · 2025Article
- Examining the roles of working memory and trait anxiety on math achievement in children with ADHD.Neuropsychology · 2025Article
- Article
- Anxiety in children and youth: Part 1-Diagnosis.Paediatrics & child health · 2023Review
- Combining attachment-based family therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy to improve outcomes for adolescents with anxiety.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders in Youth: Efficacy, Moderators, and New Advances in Predicting Outcomes.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
- School-based screening for childhood anxiety problems and intervention delivery: a codesign approach.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Article
- Practitioner review: health anxiety in children and young people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
questionAnxiety disorders are the most prevalent childhood mental disorders. They also start early and persist, causing high individual and collective costs. To inform policy and practice, we therefore asked: What is the best available research evidence on preventing and treating these disorders?
methodsWe sought randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating interventions addressing anxiety problems in young people. We identified RCTs by searching CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Thirty-three RCTs met inclusion criteria-evaluating 8 prevention programmes, 12 psychosocial treatments and 7 pharmacological treatments. We then conducted meta-analyses by intervention type.
findingsFor prevention, the cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) programme
conclusionsCBT is effective for preventing and treating childhood anxiety-across a range of ages and formats. Fluoxetine is also an effective treatment but side effects must be managed. CBT prevention and treatment interventions should be made widely available, adding fluoxetine in severe cases.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.