Disclosure of distress among anxiety-disordered youth: Differences in treatment outcome

The present study evaluated treatment outcome differences in anxiety-disordered youth who differed in their disclosure of internal distress as measured in a structured diagnostic interview. One hundred and seventy-one clinic-referred, anxiety-disordered children served as participants. Participants\u27 primary diagnoses were one of three anxiety disorders: separation anxiety, generalized anxiety/overanxious, or social phobia/avoidance. At a pretreatment assessment, children and their parents were interviewed separately using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS) to determine the child\u27s diagnosis. The child\u27s status as a discloser of high distress or discloser of low distress was determined by the parents\u27 endorsement of an anxiety disorder and the child\u27s endorsement or lack of endorsement of an anxiety disorder, respectively. Parents, teachers, and children also completed measures assessing the child\u27s psychopathology (e.g., Revised Children\u27s Manifest Anxiety Scale, Child Behavior Checklist). In general, findings indicated that the level of distress reported by the children moderated treatment outcome. Although both groups benefited from treatment, the children disclosing high distress experienced greater treatment gains than the children disclosing low distress. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved