Online intervention to reduce pediatric anxiety: An evidence-based review.

TOPIC: Online intervention for school-age youth suffering from symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

PURPOSE: A review of the evidence was conducted to examine the effects of nonpharmacological interventions available online for a reduction of symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder in school-age youth.

SOURCES USED: The search strategy included the databases of Pubmed, PsychINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane Clinical Trials, and Evidence-Based Reviews. A combination of search terms was used to identify studies with database-specific truncations: "Child* and youth* anxiety screen and intervention" AND "meta-analysis", "child anxiety" AND "systematic review", "child anxiety and personal empowerment and SR", "SCARED*", "COPE", and "SCARED* and SR". Studies published between 2007 and 2017 were included for this review. Twenty studies met criteria and represented level one or two using Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt, Level of Evidence Rating System for intervention inquiries.

CONCLUSION

Positive outcomes of improved physiological, social, and cognitive development are supported in the studies using cognitive behavior therapy such as the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) program. The COPE-online program is a cost-effective strategy to complements models used for early screening and timely interventions for school-age youth who struggle with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.