Characteristics of Parents of Children with Anxiety Disorders prior to and after Fear-less Triple P Participation: A Qualitative Study

This dissertation investigates characteristics of parents of children with anxiety disorders before and after their participation in Fear-less Triple P (Cobham & Sanders, 2010), a 6-session parent-only CBT intervention aimed at providing treatment for childhood anxiety disorders through parenting training. Study 1 compared the views of parents of children without anxiety disorders with the views of these parents who were about to begin the intervention program. A total of twenty-one parents (twelve with children with anxiety disorders and nine with non-clinical controls) participated in this study. Data were collected through semi-structured parental interviews and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes obtained were classified into three main areas of: 1) parental views of children’s anxiety, 2) estimation of own and children’s coping abilities, and 3) parenting styles in managing children’s anxiety. Study 2 examined whether parents' views about anxiety and their parenting changed after the parents attended the intervention program. Using the same methods as Study 1, the main themes from semi-structured interviews of the parents prior to and after the Fear-less Triple P participation were compared. The comparison suggested changes in the aforementioned three parental areas. Upon program completion, a theme emerged regarding the parents’ perception of the reduction in their children's anxiety as well as the increase in the parents’ and their children’s abilities to cope with anxiety. Analysis of themes suggests that after completing the program, parents of children with anxiety disorders had views and parenting that were more similar to those of parents of children without anxiety disorders. Findings suggest that Fear-less Triple P is beneficial in changing parents’ perspectives and management of childhood anxiety disorders. Implications of these findings are discussed, together with recommendations for future research