PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

The emotion detectives uncover new ways to fight off youth anxiety and depression

UM researchers assess the efficacy and feasibility of a program designed to help children and parents learn about emotions and develop strategies for a happier life

2012-07-12
(Press-News.org) CORAL GABLES, FL (July 11, 2012)—Emotional problems in childhood are common. Approximately 8 to 22 percent of children suffer from anxiety, often combined with other conditions such as depression. However, most existing therapies are not designed to treat co-existing psychological problems and are therefore not very successful in helping children with complex emotional issues.

To develop a more effective treatment for co-occurring youth anxiety and depression, University of Miami (UM) psychologist Jill Ehrenreich-May and her collaborator Emily L. Bilek analyzed the efficacy and feasibility of a novel intervention created by the researchers, called Emotion Detectives Treatment Protocol (EDTP). Preliminary findings show a significant reduction in the severity of anxiety and depression after treatment, as reported by the children and their parents.

"We are very excited about the potential of EDTP," says Ehrenreich-May, assistant professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at UM and principal investigator of the study. "Not only could the protocol better address the needs of youth with commonly co-occurring disorders and symptoms, it may also provide additional benefits to mental health professionals," she says. "EDTP offers a more unified approach to treatment which, we hope, will allow for an efficient and cost-effective treatment option for clinicians and clients alike."

Emotion Detectives Treatment Program is an adaptation of two treatment protocols developed for adults and adolescents, the Unified Protocols. The program implements age-appropriate techniques that deliver education about emotions and how to manage them, strategies for evaluating situations, problem solving skills, behavior activation (a technique to reduce depression) and parent training.

In the study, 22 children ages 7 to 12 with a principal diagnosis of anxiety disorder and secondary issues of depression participated in a 15-session weekly group therapy of EDTP. Among participants who completed the protocol (18 out of 22), 14 no longer met criteria for anxiety disorder at post-treatment. Additionally, among participants who were assigned a depressive disorder before treatment, (5 out of 22), only one participant continued to meet such criteria at post-treatment.

Unlike results from previous studies, the presence of depressive symptoms did not predict poorer treatment response. The results also show a high percentage of attendance. The findings imply that EDTP may offer a better treatment option for children experiencing anxiety and depression.

"Previous research has shown that depressive symptoms tend to weaken treatment response for anxiety disorders. We were hopeful that a broader, more generalized approach would better address this common co-occurrence," says Bilek, doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, at UM and co-author of the study. "We were not surprised to find that the EDTP had equivalent outcomes for individuals with and without elevated depressive symptoms, but we were certainly pleased to find that this protocol may address this important issue."

The study, titled "The Development of a Transdiagnostic, Cognitive Behavioral Group Intervention for Childhood Anxiety Disorders and Co-Occurring Depression Symptoms," is published online ahead of print in the journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. The next step is for the team to conduct a randomized controlled trial comparing the EDTP to another group treatment protocol for anxiety disorder.

INFORMATION:

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Transforming cancer treatment

2012-07-12
A Harvard researcher studying the evolution of drug resistance in cancer is predicting that, in a few decades, "many, many cancers could be manageable." Martin Nowak, a Harvard Professor of Mathematics and of Biology and Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, is one of several co-authors of a paper, published in Nature, that details how resistance to targeted drug therapy emerges in colorectal cancers, and suggests a new, multi-drug approach to treatment could make many cancers manageable, if not curable, illnesses. The key, Nowak's research suggests, ...

Cells derived from debrided burn tissue may be useful for tissue engineering

2012-07-12
Putnam Valley, NY. (July 11, 2012) –A research team in the Netherlands has found that cells from burn eschar, the non-viable tissue remaining after burn injury and normally removed to prevent infection, can be a source of mesenchymal cells that may be used for tissue engineering. Their study compared the efficacy of those cells to adipose (fat)-derived stem cells and dermal fibroblasts in conforming to multipotent mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) criteria. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:5), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. ...

Retina transplantation improved by manipulating recipient retinal microenvironment

2012-07-12
Putnam Valley, NY. (July 11, 2012) – A research team in the United Kingdom has found that insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) impacts cell transplantation of photoreceptor precursors by manipulating the retinal recipient microenvironment, enabling better migration and integration of the cells into the adult mouse retina. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:5), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. "Photoreceptor death is an irreversible process and represents one of the largest causes of untreatable ...

Toward new drugs for the human and non-human cells in people

2012-07-12
Amid the growing recognition that only a small fraction of the cells and genes in a typical human being are human, scientists are suggesting a revolutionary approach to developing new medicines and treatments to target both the human and non-human components of people. That's the topic of an article, which reviews work relating to this topic from almost 100 studies, in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. Liping Zhao, Jeremy K. Nicholson and colleagues explain that human beings have been called "superorganisms" because their bodies contain 10 percent human cells and 90 ...

Widespread exposure to BPA substitute is occurring from cash register receipts, other paper

2012-07-12
People are being exposed to higher levels of the substitute for BPA in cash register thermal paper receipts and many of the other products that engendered concerns about the health effects of bisphenol A, according to a new study. Believed to be the first analysis of occurrence of bisphenol S (BPS) in thermal and recycled paper and paper currency, the report appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. Kurunthachalam Kannan and colleagues point out that growing evidence of the potentially toxic effects of BPA has led some manufacturers to replace it with ...

White rot fungus boosts ethanol production from corn stalks, cobs and leaves

2012-07-12
Scientists are reporting new evidence that a white rot fungus shows promise in the search for a way to use waste corn stalks, cobs and leaves – rather than corn itself – to produce ethanol to extend supplies of gasoline. Their study on using the fungus to break down the tough cellulose and related material in this so-called "corn stover" to free up sugars for ethanol fermentation appears in the ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Yebo Li and colleagues explain that corn ethanol supplies are facing a crunch because corn is critical for animal feed ...

Rio+20 sustainability conference gets mixed reviews

2012-07-12
Although a walkout by disgruntled activists may have grabbed headlines, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro last month did produce hundreds of individual commitments from participants with potential for having major impacts. That's the topic of the cover story of this week's Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Correspondent Cheryl Hogue explains that the Rio+20 conference brought together representatives from companies, governments, ...

NASA sees Tropical Storm Daniel move over cooler water

2012-07-12
Tropical Storm Daniel was once a hurricane and now a rapidly weakening tropical storm as a result of moving over cooler waters. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite provided a look at just how cool the waters are that have sapped Daniel's strength. The TRMM satellite flew above weakening tropical storm Daniel on July 10, 2012 at 0003 UTC. TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data from that pass showed that only light to moderate rainfall (.0.78 to 1.57 inches/20 to 40 mm/hour) was occurring with the weakening storm. At NASA's ...

Live Fire Tests with FDNY Will Guide Improvements in Fire Department Tactics

2012-07-12
In the name of science, but with aim of saving lives, preventing injuries and reducing property losses, members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) spent much of the first two weeks in July setting fire to 20 abandoned townhouses on Governors Island, about a kilometer from the southern tip of Manhattan. In a series of "live burn" experiments, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL), New York firefighters challenged the conventional wisdom on, and tested new tactics for, controlling ...

NIST issues guidance for pediatric electronic health records

2012-07-12
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a guide to help improve the design of electronic health records for pediatric patients so that the design focus is on the users—the doctors, nurses and other clinicians who treat children. While hospitals and medical practices are accelerating their adoption of electronic health records, these records systems often are not ideal for supporting children's health care needs. Young patients' physiology is different from adults—and varies widely over the course of their growing years. Tasks that are routine ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Cercus electric stimulation enables cockroach with trajectory control and spatial cognition training

Day-long conference addresses difficult to diagnose lung disease

First-ever cardiogenic shock academy features simulation lab

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

[Press-News.org] The emotion detectives uncover new ways to fight off youth anxiety and depression
UM researchers assess the efficacy and feasibility of a program designed to help children and parents learn about emotions and develop strategies for a happier life