(PS3-21) Parent Perceived Acceptability of Various Treatment Approaches for Pediatric Anxiety

Abstract Text:

Background: Anxiety disorders are chronic, impairing, and highly prevalent in children and adolescents. While cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological treatments have demonstrated efficacy for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders (Rozenman et al., 2019; Stefánsdóttir et al., 2023), other interventions are often employed in applied practice including holistic approaches and behavioral modifications. It is unclear how parents perceive these treatment options.

Parental perceptions and treatment preferences have the potential to shape treatment outcomes by influencing treatment choice, engagement, dropout rate, and therapeutic alliance (Bannon & McKay, 2005; Iacoviello et al., 2007; Seligman et al., 2009; Swift & Callahan, 2009). As such, the examination of parental treatment preferences is imperative to informing clinical services for children and supporting positive treatment outcomes. Past research suggests more favorable attitudes toward psychosocial treatments for child anxiety and OCD, with medications being generally viewed as less favorable options (Chavira et al., 2003; Mak et al., 2014). The present study aims to understand parental perceptions of the acceptability of multiple types of pediatric anxiety treatments.

Method: Participants were involved in a study measuring the comparative efficacies of three different family-based anxiety therapies. Parents completed a self-report survey on treatment preferences which examined parents’ acceptability of various anxiety treatments. Treatments were grouped together within overarching categories: psychiatric/psychotropic, dietary interventions, lifestyle changes, natural/homeopathic, therapy, surgical, and non-evidence-based treatments. Answers were presented as a Likert scale from 1-5 with 1 being Extremely Inappropriate and 5 being Extremely Appropriate. A mean perceived acceptability rating for each treatment category was computed.

Results: The sample consisted of 126 parents of children ages 7-13 who were receiving anxiety focused therapy at the time. Perceived acceptability ratings across treatment categories were largely internally consistent: psychiatric/psychotropic (α = 0.88), dietary interventions (α = .85), lifestyle changes (α = 0.84), natural/homeopathic (α = 0.83), therapy (α = 0.86), surgical (α = 0.83), and non-evidence-based treatment (α = 0.79). Parents perceived psychotherapy as most appropriate (mean = 4.38), followed by lifestyle changes (4.36), natural/homeopathic (4.12), dietary interventions (3.94), and non-evidence-based treatments (3.88). Medicine (3.07) and neurosurgery (2.78) were ranked the least appropriate out of all treatments.

Conclusion: Results were consistent with previous literature that stated parents were largely supportive of general therapy, and less supportive of psychiatric/psychotropic treatment. Parents were also largely accepting of most other interventions except for surgery. These results show consistency with the invasiveness of procedures or inappropriateness for youth. Further research should examine the relationship between perceived acceptability and severity of the child’s anxiety symptoms.