Evans, Jocelyn L. (2021) Does Internet-Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (iCBT) for Child and Adolescent Anxiety Improve Functioning and Lead to Meaningful Life Changes? Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
BRAVE Self-Help is an iCBT program, freely available Australia-wide, that has shown to be effective in treating child and adolescent anxiety. Several studies have demonstrated it leads to significant reductions in symptoms; however, impacts on anxiety-related life interference are yet to be measured. These include avoidance of feared situations, reduced participation in social activities, impaired school performance, and problems in family functioning. The Child Anxiety Life Interference Scale-Child version (CALIS-C) was used in the current study to examine the utility of the program to bring about improvements in these domains. This study formed part of an open-access trial and used a pre-post design, with archival data from participants aged 7-17 who demonstrated elevated levels of anxiety according to the Children’s Anxiety Scale (CAS-8). The results of repeated-measures ANOVAs showed significant improvements in participants’ functioning, both at-home (ŋp2 = .019) and outside home (ŋp2 = .013), after four to six sessions. Regression analyses also revealed improvements in symptoms predicted reductions in life interference (B = .20 & .25), however, this was not moderated by the number of sessions completed. Adolescents demonstrated slightly less improvement in outside-home interference than children. While all the reported effects were small, the results suggest iCBT can bring about meaningful changes and improve functioning in young people. Importantly, the findings provide new insight into the mechanisms of change underpinning iCBT and support the viability of the self-help model as a low-cost alternative to traditional therapy.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Sonja March |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2025 00:05 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2025 00:05 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | iCBT ; Self-help ; child and adolescent anxiety ; life interference ; anxiety-related impairment |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52308 |
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