Predictors of Treatment Outcome for Parent-Led, Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth with Emotional Problems Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: A brief, parent-led, transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach demonstrated utility among youth struggling with emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Homework completion between sessions is directly associated with psychotherapy treatment outcomes in non-parent-led CBT interventions. The present study sought to examine the relationship between homework completion and treatment response in a parent-led transdiagnostic CBT protocol. Objective: The first aim was to determine if completion of between session CBT homework was associated with change in symptom severity. The second aim was to determine if pre-treatment anxiety severity, social anxiety severity, and depressive symptoms were associated with treatment outcomes. Methods: One-hundred twenty-nine parents of youth (ages 5–13) with significant emotional problems received 6 sessions of telehealth parent-led CBT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on children's anxiety symptomology, clinical severity, homework compliance, depression, family relationships, perceptions on the impacts of the pandemic, treatment response, and therapists rating of symptom improvement were collected. Results: Homework completion explained 9% of the variance in symptom improvement at post-treatment. Greater homework completion was associated with a significantly higher odds of treatment response (OR = 1.52, p =.001). Child anxiety severity, depressive symptoms, family relationships, and perceptions on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were not significantly related to treatment outcome. Conclusions: Completion of homework predicted treatment outcomes in parent-led, transdiagnostic CBT for youth with emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, while controlling for parent-rated anxiety, depression, family relationships, and COVID-related distress. Enhancing and targeting homework compliance between CBT sessions should be a central element of parent-led treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]