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ViewAttendees 7

Symposia

Dissemination & Implementation Science

Session: Listening to Patients: Consumer Perspectives on Treatment

4 - (SYM 21) Caregiver Attitudes and Perceptions of Exposure Therapy for Youth Anxiety

Friday, November 17, 2023
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM PST
Location: Sol Duc (708), Level 7



Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for youth anxiety, with exposures being a key ingredient in CBT. Caregivers are key informants in treatment of youth anxiety given they usually are the ones who determine whether and where to seek treatment for their child. Caregiver engagement in treatment is an important factor in treatment success. Thus, it is important to understand caregivers’ impressions of CBT and in particular, of exposure therapy (“exposure”). 



Method: Participants (N = 36) were caregivers who participated in two separate studies. An informed consumer sample attended a presentation on strategies to treat youth anxiety and how to find a CBT therapist. A treatment recipient sample included caregivers’ whose youth received CBT for obsessive compulsive disorder at a specialty anxiety clinic. Caregivers in both groups completed the 18 item Caregiver Attitudes about CBT questionnaire and responded to open-ended questions asking about their impression of exposures and how to describe exposures to another caregiver. Qualitative data have been collected and are being analyzed using an inductive approach. Qualitative and quantitative responses will be compared between the informed consumer sample and the treatment recipient samples. 



Results: There was no significant difference between informed consumers and treatment recipients regarding their impression of CBT skills, ts(34) ≤ 2.67, qs ≥ .19, with both groups having favorable views of CBT (M = 4.58, SD = 0.46). Across groups, caregivers rated the following as the most favorable components of CBT: coaching parents to use skills, individualized treatment plans, collaboratively setting therapy goals, and exposure. Preliminary review of qualitative responses suggests that caregivers in both groups highlighted the value of the gradual approach to exposures. Treatment recipients described the effectiveness of exposure, while informed consumers defined exposure by giving an example of exposures that someone might complete. Some informed consumers were unaware that exposure could be used to treat anxiety and related disorders other than specific phobias. 

Discussion: Caregivers had positive impressions of exposure. These results can be integrated into provider trainings to demonstrate that CBT is an acceptable treatment for caregivers of potential clients. Additionally, dissemination initiatives about exposure may be improved by describing the treatment as gradual and by including an example of how the treatment works.