Examining the social validity of the FRIENDS treatment program for anxious children.

Abstract

This study conducted the first evaluation of elements of social validity of the FRIENDS program, a cognitive-behavioural treatment package for childhood anxiety disorders. Parents, children, and adolescents were surveyed over time on their global satisfaction with the program, the acceptability of treatment components, and the completion of homework tasks. Results indicated a high level of satisfaction with the FRIENDS program and a high completion rate of homework tasks. Contrary to expectations, children rated the cognitive skills as more useful than adolescents did. Adolescents reported the behavioural strategy of graded exposure as more useful than other strategies. In addition, the relationship between treatment acceptability and clinical outcome was not significant. Limitations of the study and directions for further research are discussed.