Effectiveness of a school-based modularized cognitive behavioral intervention for students who are gifted and experience anxiety

Students who suffer from untreated anxiety often experience a range of behavioral, social, and academic consequences; this is augmented when the child is also intellectually gifted. The present study examined the effectiveness of a modularized cognitive behavior intervention, MATCH-ADTC, with four students who were identified gifted and demonstrated elevated levels of anxiety. Students participated in a seven to eight week intervention designed to teach effective coping skills to manage anxiety. Each student completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children 2nd Edition Self Report (MASC-2 SR; March, 2013) before and after the intervention period, and completed fear ladder ratings during each session, to measure the efficacy of the intervention. Results indicated that the intervention was effective in reducing anxiety for students who were intellectually gifted. Suggestions are made for future research