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The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a universal school-based cognitive behavior prevention program (the FRIENDS program) for childhood anxiety. Participants were 638 children, ages 9 to 12 years, from 14 schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. All the children completed standardized measures of anxiety and depression, social and adaptive functioning, coping strategies, social skills, and perfectionism before and after the 10-week FRIENDS program and at two follow-up assessments (6 and 12 months) or wait period. Children who participated in the FRIENDS program exhibited significantly fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms, and lower perfectionism scores than children in the control group at 12-month follow-up. Younger children (9-10-year-olds) displayed treatment gains immediately after the intervention, whereas older children (11-12-year-olds) showed anxiety reduction only at 6- and 12-month follow-up. Perfectionism and avoidant coping acted as mediators of pre- to postintervention changes in anxiety scores. This study provides empirical evidence for the utility of the FRIENDS program in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms among German children.

The effects of anxiety management training in reducing generalized anxiety using a self-help format were examined. Twenty-seven anxiety state patients were randomly allocated to one of three groups which differed only in the length of time patients waited for treatment. Self-ratings of anxiety and depression were made at the start of the wait period, before and after treatment, and 1 and 3 months later. Assessments were also made by an independent assessor. There was a significant reduction in anxiety level at the end of treatment, and improvement was maintained during the follow-up period. Comparison between anxiety training and the no-treatment condition showed that the changes during treatment were mainly due to the effects of the treatment rather than other factors such as self-monitoring. The results are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of selfhelp methods in reducing anxiety and in comparison with the results of previous studies.

Three different modeling programs were compared with a minimal preparation technique to assess their differential effectiveness in reducing children's adverse reactions to elective oral surgery. Forty-four children received informal preparation from the hospital staff and an opportunity to ask questions of the experimenter. In addition, the experimental groups viewed (a) a puppet model who presented information accurate to setting and order of medical procedures, (b) a local videotape with a live child actor who presented information accurate to setting and order of procedures, or (c) a commercial film with a live child patient which presented information concerning setting and order of procedures which was often inaccurate. Results demonstrated that all experimental modeling conditions were more effective in reducing anxiety and distress than the informal preparation received by the control group. There were no consistent differences among the three modeling programs in spite of differences in type of model (taped child vs. in vivo puppet), manner of presentation, setting, and order of procedures. The findings are discussed in terms of optimal implementation of hospital preparation programs.

Test-anxious college students received therapy consisting of relaxation or relaxation and study counseling in small groups or via self-instructional manuals. Subjects were also assigned to a group-administered placebo condition or two control groups. Self-report anxiety and academic performance data, collected before and after therapy, indicated both modes of therapeutic intervention to be (a) equally effective in reducing anxiety and improving grades, and (b) significantly better than no treatment.