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Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study

Bibliotherapy, particularly when supplemented with therapist contact, has emerged as an effective treatment for anxiety symptoms in children. However, its effectiveness in treating specific phobias in young children has been explored in only one study which targeted nighttime fears. The current stud...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Radtke, Sarah R., Muskett, Ashley, Coffman, Mary F., Ollendick, Thomas H.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9015284/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35462941
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02304-2
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author Radtke, Sarah R.
Muskett, Ashley
Coffman, Mary F.
Ollendick, Thomas H.
author_facet Radtke, Sarah R.
Muskett, Ashley
Coffman, Mary F.
Ollendick, Thomas H.
author_sort Radtke, Sarah R.
collection PubMed
description Bibliotherapy, particularly when supplemented with therapist contact, has emerged as an effective treatment for anxiety symptoms in children. However, its effectiveness in treating specific phobias in young children has been explored in only one study which targeted nighttime fears. The current study tested a novel bibliotherapy for fears of dogs in four to seven-year-old children. The therapy was conducted over four weeks and was supplemented with brief, weekly videoconference calls with a therapist. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of this treatment in a sample of seven children between four and seven years of age. Significant reductions in specific phobia diagnostic severity, parent and child fear ratings, and child avoidance during a behavioral approach task were all observed. Additionally, treatment adherence, retention, and satisfaction were all high. Future research is needed to replicate the findings in larger, more heterogeneous samples and to explore possible predictive variables; however, this study provides initial support for bibliotherapy as a non-intensive, first-line intervention for specific phobias in young children.
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spelling pubmed-90152842022-04-19 Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study Radtke, Sarah R. Muskett, Ashley Coffman, Mary F. Ollendick, Thomas H. J Child Fam Stud Original Paper Bibliotherapy, particularly when supplemented with therapist contact, has emerged as an effective treatment for anxiety symptoms in children. However, its effectiveness in treating specific phobias in young children has been explored in only one study which targeted nighttime fears. The current study tested a novel bibliotherapy for fears of dogs in four to seven-year-old children. The therapy was conducted over four weeks and was supplemented with brief, weekly videoconference calls with a therapist. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of this treatment in a sample of seven children between four and seven years of age. Significant reductions in specific phobia diagnostic severity, parent and child fear ratings, and child avoidance during a behavioral approach task were all observed. Additionally, treatment adherence, retention, and satisfaction were all high. Future research is needed to replicate the findings in larger, more heterogeneous samples and to explore possible predictive variables; however, this study provides initial support for bibliotherapy as a non-intensive, first-line intervention for specific phobias in young children. Springer US 2022-04-18 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC9015284/ /pubmed/35462941 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02304-2 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Radtke, Sarah R.
Muskett, Ashley
Coffman, Mary F.
Ollendick, Thomas H.
Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study
title Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study
title_full Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study
title_short Bibliotherapy for Specific Phobias of Dogs in Young Children: A Pilot Study
title_sort bibliotherapy for specific phobias of dogs in young children: a pilot study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9015284/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35462941
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02304-2
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