Prevention and Treatment of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents
Anxiety and depression are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in youth and have severe consequences on individual, family and societal level. A large range of different prevention and intervention programs is available for preventing and treating anxious and/or depressed youth. However, clinicians find it hard to estimate the differences between these programs, for whom which program is suitable and how these programs are applicable in the different levels of youth care. A consortium of different research and knowledge institutions and clinical practice was formed to investigate the numerous interventions for anxious and depressed youth. An overview of all the relevant interventions was made in order to study their characteristics and their effectiveness. The next three years, we will study these interventions in more detail; we want to investigate for which intervention works best for whom, how these interventions are most effective and which specific CBT works best.
This knowledge will lead to more concrete advices to choose a specific intervention for anxiety or depression.