The Effectiveness of a Coping Cat Program on Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders in Primary Schools

Background: Anxiety disorders are the most common disorders in children that affect the psychological and social functioning of the child. Recently, researchers have used the coping cat programs (CCP) as a way to reduce anxiety disorders. Therefore the current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a coping cat program on symptoms of anxiety disorders in primary schools. Method: This study was performed in a pre-test-post-test control group design. The statistical population included all children aged 8 to 11 years with anxiety disorders in five state primary schools in the second district of Bandar Abbas, Iran, in 2019. Using a questionnaire (SCAS), 32 children with anxiety disorders were selected from schools and randomly divided into control (n=16), and experimental (n=16) groups. CCP) training intervention was performed for the experimental group (for 16 sessions, twice a week for 45-minute). The control group did not receive any intervention. The participants’ anxiety was assessed in both groups, one week after the intervention by Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Data were analyzed through SPSS version 23. Results: The experimental and control groups were homogeneous before intervention. The mean anxiety score in the intervention group after the coping cat program including the Separation anxiety disorder (3.56±2.09), Panic disorder (2.12±2.15), Obsessive-compulsive (3.81±2.007), physical injury fears (4.06±3.08) was significantly lower than that in the control group (9.81±3.54), (7±3.07), (9.43±3.28), and (7.37±3.36) respectively (P <0.05). Conclusion: The results revealed that through a 16-session intervention of recognizing the symptoms of unwanted anxiety in children and using these symptoms to apply anxiety management strategies, CCP leads to a reduction of anxiety disorders in children