There is a good deal of evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy is effective for children and adolescents with anxiety-related problems. In Japan, an anxiety prevention programme based on cognitive behavioural therapy called ‘Journey of the Brave’ has been developed, and it has been demonstrated to be effective for elementary school students (aged 10–11 years). The purpose of this study was to have classroom teachers deliver the programme to junior high school students (aged 12–13 years) and to test the feasibility and efficacy of the programme in this setting. This study was a prospective observational study and was approved by the Chiba University Review Board. An intervention group consisting of six classes of students in their first year of junior high school at two different schools (n = 149; 81 boys, 68 girls) received seven 50-min programme sessions. Participants in the control group were recruited from four classes of students in their second year of junior high school at one school (n = 89; 51 boys, 38 girls). All participants completed the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale at pre-test, post-test, and 2–3 month follow-up. Statistical analysis was conducted using a mixed-effects model for repeated measures model. Mean total anxiety scores indicated a non-significant decrease at the 2–3 month follow-up for the intervention group compared to the control group. The group differences on the SCAS from baseline to post-test was − .71 (95% CI − 2.48 to 1.06, p = .43), and the 2–3 month follow-up was − .49 (95% CI − 2.60 to 1.61, p = .64). In this pilot study, implementation of the programme confirmed the partial feasibility of the programme but did not elicit a significant reduction in anxiety scores. In addition, there are several methodological limitations to this study. In the future, we propose to test the feasibility and efficacy of the programme with the required sample size and by comparing groups with equal characteristics as well as by carrying out additional follow-up assessments. Trial registration UMIN000032517.

中文翻译：

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日本初中生基于认知行为疗法的焦虑预防计划的试点和可行性研究：准实验研究

有大量证据表明认知行为疗法对有焦虑相关问题的儿童和青少年有效。在日本，已经开发了一种基于认知行为疗法的焦虑预防计划，称为“勇敢之旅”，并已被证明对小学生（10-11 岁）有效。本研究的目的是让任课教师向初中学生（12-13 岁）提供该计划，并测试该计划在此环境中的可行性和有效性。本研究为前瞻性观察性研究，经千叶大学审查委员会批准。一个干预组，由两个不同学校的初中一年级的六个班级的学生组成（n = 149；81 名男孩，68 名女孩）接受了 7 次 50 分钟的课程。对照组的参与者是从一所学校的初中二年级的四个班级中招募的（n = 89；男孩 51 名，女孩 38 名）。所有参与者在前测、后测和 2-3 个月的随访中完成了 Spence 儿童焦虑量表。使用重复测量模型的混合效应模型进行统计分析。与对照组相比，干预组的平均总焦虑评分表明在 2-3 个月的随访中没有显着降低。从基线到测试后 SCAS 的组间差异为 - .71（95% CI - 2.48 至 1.06，p = .43），2-3 个月的随访为 - .49（95% CI - 2.60至 1.61，p = .64）。在这项试点研究中，该计划的实施证实了该计划的部分可行性，但并未导致焦虑评分显着降低。此外，本研究存在一些方法学限制。未来，我们建议通过比较具有相同特征的组以及进行额外的后续评估，以所需的样本量测试该计划的可行性和有效性。试用注册 UMIN000032517。