Youth sought for UCLA study

The Child OCD, Anxiety and Tic Disorders Program at UCLA’s Semel Institute seeks children and adolescents ages 7 to 17 with social phobia, separation anxiety or generalized anxiety disorders for a multi-site study evaluating the effectiveness of psychotherapy and medication treatments.

Eligible participants at no cost will be randomly assigned for up to nine months to one of four treatment conditions: cognitivebehavioral, or talk, therapy; the medication Zoloft; a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and Zoloft; or a placebo, a pill with inactive ingredients.

Although some fears and worries are a normal part of childhood, various forms of anxiety can be a serious problem for up to 10 percent of school-aged youngsters.

Social phobia involves fear of social or performance situations. Kids with social phobia are usually extremely shy and self-conscious with peers or with adults.

Separation anxiety disorder involves excessive anxiety related to separation from the home or from parents or other primary caregiver. Children with this disorder often dwell on scary things that might happen to their caregiver.

Generalized anxiety disorder involves excessive worry about several life areas, frequent need for reassurance, muscle tension and sleep disturbance. In children and adolescents, the worry often concerns possible catastrophic events or performance in school and/or social activities.

Research studies have shown both cognitive behavior therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to be effective treatments for childhood anxiety disorders.

For more information, call Joyce Lee at (310) 825-4132.