The effects of the FRIENDS for youth program on anxiety of Ahvaz female students

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mojgan Ghajareih ¹
• Sirous Allipour ²
• manizheh shehni yailagh ³
• Iran Davoodi ⁴

¹ Neyriz Islamic Azad University, Facility Member

² associate professor of Shahid Chamran University

³ shahid chamran university of ahvaz

⁴ Assistant professor of Shahid Chamran University

Abstract

The current research is a study aiming to investigate the effects of the FRIENDS for Youth Resilience Program on the anxiety of 45 female students ages 13-14 with middle class socio-economic status in Ahvaz. The statistical population was consisted of all 7th grade female students of Ahvaz province in the academic year of 2016-2017. Students were selected using multi-stage random sampling method and divided into 3 groups: experimental, control and active control. Prior to intervention, the students responded to the research pre-test instrument, Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale. Afterwards, the program was provided to the experimental group, as the intervention in 12, 60- minute sessions. The active control group received training on personal hygiene, but the control group did not receive any training. After completing the training program, students took the post-test questionnaire. A follow-up test was carried out 3 months later. The results of the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed that the FRIENDS for Youth Program have reduced anxiety in students.
Key word: FRIENDS, resilience, anxiety, youth

Keywords

• Resilience
• anxiety
• FRIENDS
• Youth

20.1001.1.22285516.1397.9.31.4.4

Main Subjects

• Psychological Models and Methods

---

References

1-Anticich, S. A., Barrett, P. M., Gillies, R., & Silverman, W. (2012). Recent advances in intervention for early childhood anxiety. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 22(02), 157-172.

2-Barrett, P. M.  (2012). My FRIENDS youth for life: Group leaders’ manual for youth 6 Ed. Pathway health and research center. Brisbane. Australia.

3-Barrett, P. M., Dadds, M. R., & Rapee, R. M. (1996). Family treatment of childhood anxiety: A controlled trial. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 64(2), 333.

4-Barrett, P. M., & May, S. (2007). Introduction to FRIENDS: Anxiety prevention and treatment for children aged 7-11 and youth 12-16. Retrieved from http//www.friendsinfo.net.

5-Barrett, P. M., & Pahl, K. M. (2005). School-based intervention: Examining a universal approach to anxiety management. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 16(1), 55-75.

6-Barrett, P., & Turner, C. (2001). Prevention of anxiety symptoms in primary school children: Preliminary results from a universal school‐based trial. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40(4), 399-410.

7-Barrett, P. M., Moore, A. F., & Sonderegger, R. (2000). The FRIENDS program for young former-Yugoslavian refugees in Australia: A pilot study. Behaviour Change, 17(03), 124-133.

8-Barrett, P. M., Sonderegger, R., & Xenos, S. (2003). Using FRIENDS to combat anxiety and adjustment problems among young migrants to Australia: A national trial. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8(2), 241-260.

9-Barrett, P. M., Duffy, A. L., Dadds, M. R., & Rapee, R. M. (2001). Cognitive–behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders in children: Long-term (6-year) follow-up. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 135.

10Bayer, J. K., Rapee, R. M., Hiscock, H., Ukoumunne, O. C., Mihalopoulos, C., Clifford, S., & Wake, M. (2011). The Cool Little Kids randomised controlled trial: Population-level early prevention for anxiety disorders. BMC public health, 11(1), 11.

11-Bernstein, G. A., Bernat, D. H., Victor, A. M., & Layne, A. E. (2008). School-based interventions for anxious children: 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(9), 1039-1047.

12-Cobham, V. E. (2012). Do anxiety-disordered children need to come into the clinic for efficacious treatment?. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 80(3), 465.

13-Cobham, V. E., Dadds, M. R., & Spence, S. H. (1999). Anxious children and their parents: What do

             they expect? Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 220–231.

14-Cooley, M. R., Boyd, R. C., & Grados, J. J. (2004). Feasibility of an anxiety preventive intervention for community violence exposed African-American children. Journal of Primary Prevention, 25(1), 105-123.

15-Cooley-Strickland, M. R., Griffin, R. S., Darney, D., Otte, K., & Ko, J. (2011). Urban African American youth exposed to community violence: A school-based anxiety preventive intervention efficacy study. Journal of Prevention and intervention in the Community, 39(2), 149-166.

16-Costello, E. J., Mustillo, S., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., & Angold, A. (2003). Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(8), 837-844.

17-Essau, C. A. (2003). Comorbidity of anxiety disorders in adolescents. Depression and Anxiety, 18, 1-6.

18-Essau, C. A. (2005). Frequency and patterns of mental health services utilization among adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders. Depression and anxiety, 22(3), 130-137.

19-Essau, C. A., Conradt, J., & Petermann, F. (2000). Frequency, comorbidity, and psychosocial impairment of anxiety disorders in German adolescents. Journal of anxiety disorders, 14(3), 263-279.

20-Essau, C. A., Conradt, J., Sasagawa, S., & Ollendick, T. H. (2012). Prevention of anxiety symptoms in children: Results from a universal school-based trial. Behavior Therapy, 43(2), 450-464.

21-Farrell, L. J., & Barret, M. P. (2007). Prevention of childhood emotional disorders: Reducing the burden of suffering associated with anxiety and depression. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 12(2), 58-65.

22-Farrell, L. J., Barrett, P. M., & Claassens, S. (2005). Community trial of an evidence-based anxiety intervention for children and adolescents (the FRIENDS program): A pilot study. Behaviour Change, 22(04), 236-248.

23-Gallegos, J., Rodríguez, A., Gómez, G., Rabelo, M., & Gutiérrez, M. F. (2012). The FRIENDS for Life program for Mexican girls living in an orphanage: A pilot study. Behaviour Change, 29(01), 1-14.

24-Heydari, M., bakhteyari, S., Macvandi, B., Naderi, F., & Hafez, F. (2016). Effectiveness of FREINDS program on the anxiety of children in Shiraz Psychological Methods and Models, 2(24), 23-38.

25-James, E. M., Reynolds, C. R., & Dunbar, J. (1994). Self-report instruments. International handbook of phobic and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, 317-330.

26-Kendall, P. C. (1994). Treating anxiety disorders in youth: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 100-110.

27-Kendall, P. C., Flannery-Schroeder, E., Panichelli-Mindel, S. M., Southam-Gerow, M., Henin, A., & Warman, M. (1997). Therapy for youths with anxiety disorders: A second randomized clincal trial. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 65(3), 366-380.

28-Lewinsohn, P. M., Hops, H., Roberts, R. E., Seeley, J. R., & Andrews, J. A. (1993). Adolescent psychopathology: I. Prevalence and incidence of depression and other DSM-III—R disorders in high school students. Journal of abnormal psychology, 102(1), 133.

29-Liddle, I., & Macmillan, S. (2010). Evaluating the FRIENDS programme in a Scottish setting. Educational Psychology in Practice, 26(1), 53-67.

30-Martinsen, K. D., Aalberg, M., Gere, M., & Neumer, S. P. (2010). Using a structured treatment, FRIENDS for Life, in Norwegian outpatient clinics: Results from a pilot study. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 2(01), 10-19.

31-McGrath, H., & Nobel, T. (2015). A well-being and resilience program, 2nd edition. Pearson: Australia.

32-Mostert, J., & Loxton, H. (2008). Exploring the effectiveness of the FRIENDS program in reducing anxiety symptoms among South African children. Behaviour Change, 25(02), 85-96.

33-Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1978). What I think and feel: A revised measure of children's manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6(2), 271-280.

34-Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1979). Factor structure and construct validity of 'What I think and feel': The Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 43(3), 281-283.

35-Rector, N. A., Bourdeau, D., Kitchen, K., & Joseph-Massiah, L. (2008). Anxiety disorders: An information guide. Centre for Addiction and  Mental Health, Canada.

36-Rodgers, A., & Dunsmuir, S. (2015). A controlled evaluation of the ‘FRIENDS for Life’emotional resiliency programme on overall anxiety levels, anxiety subtype levels and school adjustment. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20(1), 13-19.

37-Shortt, A. L., Barrett, P. M., & Fox, T. L. (2001). Evaluating the FRIENDS program: A cognitive-behavioral group treatment for anxious children and their parents. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(4), 525-535.

38-Silverman, W. K., Kurtines, W. M., Ginsburg, G. S., Weems, C. F., Lumpkin, P. W., & Carmichael, D. H. (1999). Treating anxiety disorders in children with group cognitive-behavioral therapy: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 67(6), 995. Woodward, L. J., & Fergusson, D. M. (2001). Life course outcomes of young people with anxiety disorders in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(9), 1086-1093.

39-Siu, A. F. (2007). Using FRIENDS to combat internalizing problems among primary school children in Hong Kong. Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies, 7(1), 11-26.

40-Stallard, P., Simpson, N., Anderson, S., & Goddard, M. (2008). The FRIENDS emotional health prevention programme. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 17(5), 283-289.

41-Stallard, P., Simpson, N., Anderson, S., Hibbert, S., & Osborn, C. (2007). The FRIENDS emotional health programme: Initial findings from a school‐based project. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 12(1), 32-37.

42-Stallard, P., Taylor, G., Anderson, R., Daniels, H., Simpson, N., Phillips, R., & Skryabina, E. (2014). The prevention of anxiety in children through school-based interventions: study protocol for a 24-month follow-up of the PACES project. Trials, 15(1), 77.

43-Wisniewski, J. J., Genshaft, J. L., Mulick, J. A., & Coury, D. L. (1987). Test-retest reliability of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 65(1), 67-70.

44-Wittchen, H. U., Nelson, C. B., & Lachner, G. (1998). Prevalence of mental disorders and psychosocial impairments in adolescents and young adults. Psychological medicine, 28(1), 109-126.