NBC News (6/7, Edwards) reports, “If children and teenagers receive any help for an anxiety disorder, it’s usually medication, not counseling,” according to findings published online June 7 in the journal Pediatrics. After examining “data representing 46.4 million pediatric office visits from 2006 through 2018” broken down “in chunks of time: 2006-2009, 2010-2013 and 2014-2018,” the study team found “an inverse relationship between the need for therapy and what has been given over more than a decade.” In other words, “as the number of youth with anxiety disorders has risen continually since 2006, the number of children receiving psychotherapy has decreased.” CNN (6/7, Holcombe) also covers the story.
Related Links:
— “Children with anxiety are prescribed medications but little therapy,” Erika Edwards, NBC News, June 7, 2023