The Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Childhood Anxiety Disorders

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Childhood is associated with many disorders, including anxiety disorders. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of schema therapy on childhood anxiety disorders.

Methodology: This research was a quasi-experimental with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up design with a control group. The population of the present research was all children aged 8-12 with anxiety disorders who referred to counseling and psychological services centers of Babol city in 2024 year. Number of 30 children were selected using purposive sampling and randomly assigned into two equal groups. The experimental group underwent 16 sessions of 90 minute the schema therapy, and the control group remained on the waiting list for training. Data were collected using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale - Short Version (Ahlen et al., 2018) and analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test methods in SPSS software.

Findings: The results of the present study showed that schema therapy reduced anxiety disorder and all components including separation anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, specific phobia disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder in children, and the results were maintained at the follow-up stage (P<0.01).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, therapists and professionals of child health can use schema therapy along with other treatment methods to reduce anxiety disorders in children.