2 - (SYM 88) Brief Online, Therapist Guided, Parent-led CBT for Child Anxiety Problems: An Innovative Intervention to Help Meet the Demand for CBT Treatment

Background: Anxiety problems affect up to 6.5% of children and young people worldwide (Polanczyk et al., 2015). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an effective psychological treatment for child anxiety problems, however, fewer than 3% of children access CBT in the UK (Reardon et al., 2018) – thus, innovative treatment approaches are needed to meet this demand. Online Support and Intervention (OSI) for child anxiety is a brief online therapist supported, parent-led CBT intervention that has been shown to be effective and cost-effective when delivered in a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) (Creswell et al., 2024). However, little is known about the outcomes of OSI or clinical teams’ experiences of implementing OSI in routine clinical practice (i.e., outside of an RCT). Such knowledge is crucial given recent evidence showing a reduction in the effectiveness of CBT delivered in routine settings compared to RCTs (Ginsburg et al., 2020). 

Methods: UK child mental health services have been implementing OSI in their routine clinical practice from August 2022 to February 2024. The outcomes of OSI delivered in routine clinical practice have been benchmarked against the results of OSI obtained from a RCT (Creswell et al., 2024). Clinical team members have also participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews, guided by the Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) implementation science framework (Greenhalgh et al., 2017), to explore their experiences of implementing this innovative intervention in their service.

Results and

Conclusion: The clinical outcomes of OSI when delivered in routine clinical practice are consistent with the outcomes achieved as part of a large RCT (Creswell et al., 2024). Clinical teams’ experiences of implementing OSI (including identified barriers and facilitators to implementation) will be presented according to the NASSS framework.  

Implications: OSI is an innovative intervention that can be effectively delivered in routine clinical services (i.e., outside of an RCT) to help meet the demand for CBT for child anxiety problems. Identified barriers and facilitators to the implementation of OSI can be addressed to promote the sustained implementation of OSI on a wider scale.