Co-CAT: Child Anxiety Treatment in the Context of COVID-19

Child anxiety problems are common, but access to effective treatment remains limited, particularly within routine Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), highlighting the need for scalable approaches that maintain clinical outcomes while improving efficiency.

This study aimed to address these limitations through a pragmatic, multisite randomised controlled non‑inferiority trial comparing a therapist‑supported, digitally augmented, parent‑led CBT intervention (OSI+TS) with treatment as usual. The focus was on whether the intervention could achieve comparable clinical outcomes for children aged 5–12 years, remain acceptable to families and reduce costs within real‑world service settings. Findings showed that outcomes were non‑inferior to usual care, with lower costs. Despite some uncertainty, the intervention was likely to be cost effective under certain scenarios, suggesting that it can expand access to treatment while making more efficient use of limited resources.

An important impact of this work is that OSI has now been rolled out in the NHS.

Funders: UKRI‑DHSC and NIHR

See project website for more.