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By Kathleen Carmody
Anxiety leads to depression and depression can have disastrous consequences, said the Catholic Education Office’s Peter Donnan,
explaining the rationale behind an ambitious school research project aimed at combating anxiety in children.
The project, entitled The Effectiveness of an Early Intervention and Prevention Strategy for
Anxiety Disorders, is being conducted by researchers at St Vincent’s Hospital’s Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety Disorders (CRUfAD), and will be implemented in 20 archdiocesan schools later this year. The project
will target Year 7 children suffering from anxiety.
Mr Donnan said the project was the biggest external study the Catholic Education Office had ever endorsed, and identified it as very important in terms of
preventing later, potentially tragic, consequences.
“We’ve had a number of senior kids who have committed suicide over recent years. Part of the reason the directors (of CEO) have embraced the program is
because they’re very conscious of that,” Mr Donnan said.
Anxiety is the most common mental health problem facing young children, with approximately one in six children suffering from symptoms that can
interfere with their family life, schoolwork or social functioning.
Fifteen schools have signed up to participate in the project, with another five yet to confirm. The study will take place over five years.
The researchers will work with Centacare counsellors already based in the schools selected. It is hoped that the program will provide children with skills for coping with anxiety, as well as building
emotional resilience and self-confidence.
The project aims to determine whether anxiety management programs for ‘at risk’ children can successfully prevent later anxiety or depressive disorders in young
adults. Earlier research has shown that up to 80 per cent of children showing signs of an anxiety disorder no longer display that disorder after completing the program.
The study will also assess the quality
of implementation of the intervention by school counsellors. If counsellors can successfully deliver the program, it will lead to increased skills, and will become a lasting resource in the Catholic education system.
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