What makes therapy work? study digs into the 'How' of treating anxious and depressed kids

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: We expect 200 youth (ages 7-16 years) with a primary anxiety disorder and 200 youth (ages 7 - 16 years) with a primary depressive disorder to serve as participants. To participate, a youth must meet criteria for a primary DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Specific Phobia, Panic Disorder with or without a history of Agoraphobia, Major Depression Disorder, Minor Depression, or Dysthymia. Diagnosis will be based on both youth and parent report during an Independent Evaluator (IE) semi-structured interview. Youth may also participate with a subclinical diagnosis for any of these disorders if: (a) the youth demonstrates sufficient symptoms but does not yet reach clinical levels of impairment OR (b) the youth demonstrates only several symptoms related to the above disorders but demonstrates clinical impairment, AND (c) the consenting parent agrees that anxiety or mood problems would be appropriate as a clinical focus for treatment. Allowing youth with subclinical diagnoses will allow the study to investigate the effectiveness of the therapies across a range of clinical severity. This design models usual community care where a larger range of severity is witnessed and many youth may not meet all criteria for formal diagnosis. After receiving an initial diagnostic assessment, the parent must consent and the youth must assent to continued participation in the study and must be willing to receive psychological therapy at the Youth Anxiety and Depression Clinic (YAD-C), a specialty program within the outpatient clinic of the Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP). Exclusion Criteria: Youth who have a primary diagnosis of a DSM-IV disorder other than anxiety or depression (e.g., anorexia nervosa, Postraumatic Stress Disorder, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder), or who have received any diagnosis of mental retardation, a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder will be excluded. Youth who demonstrate suicidal ideation or intent (by child or parent report) severe enough to require current hospitalization, or youth who have attempted suicide in the past 3 months, will also be excluded. These clinical problems require specialized treatment that YAD-C is not prepared to offer.