Twelve-month follow-up of parent-based child anxiety treatment

Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is an efficacious parent-based treatment for child anxiety disorders. Little is known about the maintenance of treatment gains following SPACE, and no comparative follow-up studies have been conducted. We address both gaps by examining child anxiety severity up to 12 months following SPACE and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). We also examine whether reductions in family accommodation of child anxiety are maintained through follow-up in both treatments.

Participants were 125 mother-child dyads enrolled in a randomized controlled noninferiority trial comparing posttreatment outcomes of SPACE and CBT. Parents and children in both treatments completed measures of child anxiety severity and family accommodation at pre-, mid-, and posttreatment and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Linear mixed models were used to examine effects of time, treatment, and their interaction across all assessment intervals, with particular interest in maintenance at 12-month follow-up.

SPACE and CBT both produced significant reductions in parent- and child-rated anxiety severity and family accommodation over time, indicating gains were maintained similarly for both treatments through 12-month follow-up. Parent (but not child) ratings of child anxiety severity were lower for SPACE than CBT at posttreatment and 12-month follow-up.

Results are the first to show maintenance of treatment gains up to 1 year following SPACE, comparable to CBT. These findings may inform clinical decision making and guide the selection of interventions that optimize both short- and longer term outcomes for anxious children and their families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).