2024/01/08 by Jennifer Freeman, Erin O’Connor, Jennifer Herren +6 · 1 voice
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Digital Mental Health Interventions #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
paper · doi:10.1080/23794925.2023.2297873
openalex publication_date 2024/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This brief report presents the results of an open trial of a telehealth adaptation of a novel team-based approach to cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for pediatric anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This telehealth modification was necessary as a response to COVID-19 to allow clients to continue to receive treatment during a pause to in-person care in a larger trial of team-based treatment for anxious youth. Participants included 46 youth between the ages of 5 and 18 who received telehealth delivered CBT via a task-sharing model whereby patients and families met monthly with a supervising licensed clinician and with non-licensed staff all other weeks of the month. Participants received treatment for up to 6 months and completed symptom assessments every 6 weeks throughout treatment. Descriptive results demonstrated high patient and caregiver treatment engagement and satisfaction. Anxiety and OCD symptoms decreased significantly from baseline to post-treatment with 68% of participants classified as treatment responders. Patient- and caregiver-reported Top Problems and caregiver-reported quality of life improved significantly from baseline to post-treatment. In addition, the clinical capacity of the licensed provider increased more than two-fold by leveraging non-licensed staff. This novel telehealth delivery model using team-based care has potential to increase provider capacity and reduce barriers to mental health care access for youth.Trial Registration: NCT03528109