Treatment of Anxiety for children with autism spectrum disorders
RESEARCH APPEARS to indicate a connection between anxiety levels and autism, as published.
Research indicated that children and adults with autism spectrums disorders (ASD) are more likely to suffer from other psychiatric conditions that others. One of the conditions the children and adolescents with ASD key suffer from is anxiety.
A common and effective treatment for others with anxiety is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and it seems that this treatment also may be effective for children with ASD as well. Now Sung and colleagues from Singapore has conducted a randomized trial with 70 children with ASD and anxiety, comparing CBT and a social recreational (SR) program. As earlier studies often have studied CVT against a waiting-list control.
In their study they found that both the CBT and the SR group showed significant reduction in anxiety symptoms after 6 months. According to the authors this may indicate that factors such as regular structured sessions, consistent therapists, social exposure and the use of strategies founded of understanding of autism challenges are important components in management of anxiety.