Behavior therapy with children and adolescents: a twenty-year overview

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Behavior therapy has evolved significantly over the past two decades.
• Its application to various child and adolescent disorders has been explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a twenty-year overview of behavior therapy techniques for children and adolescents.
• To critically discuss the application of these techniques to major diagnostic categories.
• To assess the current standing and future research directions for behavior therapy in pediatric populations.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and critical analysis of behavior therapy research over a twenty-year period.
• Examination of techniques applied to DSM-III-R categories.
• Synthesis of findings to evaluate progress and identify research gaps.

Main Results:

• Behavior therapy has demonstrated considerable progress and established applications in treating child and adolescent disorders.
• Specific techniques have been applied to a range of relevant diagnostic categories.

Conclusions:

• Behavior therapy is a valuable approach for pediatric disorders.
• Further research is essential to clarify its specific roles, comparative efficacy, and integration with other psychotherapies.
• The current understanding is partly limited by the state of research in alternative psychotherapies.