Comparing the Effectiveness of Kendall’s Coping Cat Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Filial Therapy on Social-Emotional Skills in Elementary School Boys with Anxiety Disorders in Isfahan
Keywords:
Anxiety Disorders, Coping Cat, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Filial Therapy, Social-Emotional SkillsAbstract
This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Kendall’s Coping Cat-based cognitive-behavioral therapy and filial therapy in improving social-emotional skills among elementary school boys with anxiety disorders in Isfahan. This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest-posttest design with a control group and follow-up assessment. The population consisted of first-grade male students with anxiety disorders in Isfahan during the 2022–2023 academic year. Sixty children aged 6–8 years were purposively selected and randomly assigned to three groups of 20: Coping Cat, filial therapy, and control. The Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent Version and the Miller Social-Emotional Skills Questionnaire were administered. Both experimental groups received eight intervention sessions, whereas the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS-26, mixed repeated-measures analysis of variance, and Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons. The main effect of time and the group×time interaction on social-emotional skills were statistically significant (p<0.001), indicating different patterns of change across the three groups. At posttest, filial therapy produced significantly greater improvement than Coping Cat (mean difference=12.45, p=0.002). Both interventions significantly outperformed the control group, with mean differences of 17.15 for Coping Cat and 29.60 for filial therapy (p<0.001). At follow-up, filial therapy remained significantly superior to Coping Cat (mean difference=19.75, p<0.001), while the differences between Coping Cat and control and between filial therapy and control were 23.30 and 43.05, respectively (p<0.001). No significant changes were observed across assessment phases in the control group. Both Kendall’s Coping Cat cognitive-behavioral therapy and filial therapy were effective in improving social-emotional skills among boys with anxiety disorders; however, filial therapy demonstrated greater and sustained effectiveness. Active parental involvement and strengthened parent-child interaction may account for its superior effects. Filial therapy may therefore be particularly useful in clinical and educational interventions targeting social-emotional functioning in anxious children
Downloads
References
Abedi, A., Seyedghale, A., & Bahramipour, M. (2018). Comparison of the effectiveness of filial therapy and Barkley's parent training program in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and ADHD in children. JOEC, 17(3), 111-120. http://joec.ir/article-1-447-fa.html
Adili, S. (2020). The effectiveness of filial play therapy on social-emotional skills in 5 to 6 year old preschool girls of Isfahan. Clinical Psychology and Personality, 13(2), 97-104. https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.23452188.1394.13.2.9.1
Alizadeh Birjandi, Z., Mashhadi, A., & Tabibi, Z. (2016). The effectiveness of Coping Cat program on improving emotion cognitive regulation among children with anxiety disorders. Clinical Psychology Studies, 7(24), 153-173. https://doi.org/10.22054/jcps.2016.6533
Asbrand, J., Heinrichs, N., Schmidtendorf, S., Nitschke, K., & Tuschen-Caffier, B. (2020). Experience versus report: Where are changes seen after exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy? A randomized controlled group treatment of childhood social anxiety disorder. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51(3), 427-441.
Beidas, R. S., Benjamin, C. L., Puleo, C. M., Edmunds, J. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2010). Flexible applications of the coping cat program for anxious youth. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 17(2), 142-153.
Bernhardt, S. (2019). Anxiety and behavior: Brief cognitive behavioral therapy in school with a ten-year-old boy using the coping cat program https://red.mnstate.edu/thesis/160
Chiu, K., Clark, D. M., & Leigh, E. (2021). Prospective associations between peer functioning and social anxiety in adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 279, 650-661.
Cooper, J., Brown, T., & Yu, M. l. (2020). A pilot study of school-based filial therapy (SBFT) with a group of Australian children attending rural primary schools: The impact on academic engagement, school attendance and behaviour. International Journal of Play, 9(3), 283-301.
Dadsetan, P., Asgari, A., Rahimzade, S., & Bayat, M. (2010). Kindergarten inventory of social/emotional tendencies: A cross-validation study. Developmental Psychology, 7(25), 7-27. https://sid.ir/paper/101447/fa
Famil Ahmarian, F. S., Khodabakhshi-koolaee, A., Taghvaei, D., & Ahgher, G. (2020). The effect of “FRIENDS for Life” and “Coping Cat” programs for reduction of anxiety symptoms on male children. Caspian Journal of Pediatrics, 6(2), 434-441. https://doi.org/10.22088/CJP.BUMS.6.2.434
Ghanbari, S., & Khanmohammadi, M. (2014). Preschool children's anxiety scale: Questionnaire, implementation method and scoring. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 11(41), 115-117. https://sid.ir/paper/493466/fa
Habibi Asgarabad, M., Steinsbekk, S., & Wichstrøm, L. (2023). Social skills and symptoms of anxiety disorders from preschool to adolescence: A prospective cohort study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(7), 1045-1055.
Howe-Davies, H., Hobson, C., Waters, C., & van Goozen, S. H. (2023). Emotional and socio-cognitive processing in young children with symptoms of anxiety. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(10), 2077-2088.
Juhásová, A., & Lulei, M. (2019). Filial therapy and intrafamiliar violence prevention.
Kagan, E. R., Frank, H. E., Palitz, S. A., & Kendall, P. C. (2023). Targeting parental accommodation in anxiety: An open trial of the coping cat accommodation reduction intervention. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(2), 398-408.
Kendall, P. C., Hudson, J. L., Gosch, E., Flannery-Schroeder, E., & Suveg, C. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disordered youth: A randomized clinical trial evaluating child and family modalities. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 76(2), 282.
Kendall, P. C., & Mauro, C. (2021). The adaptable cat: A brief cognitive-behavioral treatment for childhood anxiety - Workbook (F. Hasanlou, Trans.).
Korbacheh, S., Safarzadeh, S., & Alizadeh, M. (2023). The effectiveness of filial play therapy on the dimensions of emotion management and social competence in students with special learning disorders. JPEN, 10(1), 60-70. http://jpen.ir/article-1-722-fa.html
Le, D. M., Dao, O. T., Nguyen-Thi, H. P., & Nguyen, T. A. T. (2022). Identifying social-emotional skills among elementary school students in Vietnam: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Education and Practice, 10(3), 277-286.
Li, L., Li, Q., Wang, J., Fu, Q., & Chi, M. (2025). Effects of different interventions on anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis. BMC psychiatry, 25(1), 809.
Nosouhi Dahnavi, M., Ghazanfari, A., & Ahmadi, R. (2023). Comparison of the effectiveness of Kendall's coping cat group program and parent management training for social anxiety, resilience and physical aggression of primary school students. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ), 12(5), 139-148. http://frooyesh.ir/article-1-4295-en.html
Rapee, R. M., Creswell, C., Kendall, P. C., Pine, D. S., & Waters, A. M. (2023). Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: A summary and overview of the literature. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 168, 104376.
Rye, N. (2008). Filial therapy for enhancing relationships in families: Nina Rye explains how filial therapy enables parents to play therapeutically with children who have experienced trauma or other problems. Journal of Family Health Care, 18(5), 179-182.
Samavatyan, H., Kalantari, M., Aslipoor, A., & Abedi, A. (2021). The effectiveness of parent-child cognitive behavioral therapy on emotional behavioral problems of grief children. Counseling Culture and Psycotherapy, 12(47), 195-220. https://doi.org/10.22054/qccpc.2021.60104.2674
Shamsi, F., & Abed, M. (2024). Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on autobiographical memory components in individuals with major depressive disorder 21st National Scientific-Psychological and Educational Conference, Shirvan. https://civilica.com/doc/2101809 https://civilica.com/doc/2101809
Shokri Mirhosseini, H., Alizade, H., & Fasrrokhi, N. (2018). The impact of Coping Cat program on symptoms reduction in children with anxiety disorders. Journal of Child Mental Health, 5(2), 1-13. http://childmentalhealth.ir/article-1-323-fa.html
Yaghoobi, A., Rashid, K., & Bayat, A. (2021). The effectiveness of applying the Coping Cat protocol on reducing symptoms of separation anxiety disorder in children (A case study). Razi Journal of Medical Sciences, 28(9), 1-11. http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-6254-en.html
Zadafshar, S., Ahmadian, Z. A., & Abedi, A. (2022). Effectiveness of filial therapy training on anxiety of coronavirus in children: Validation of Coronavirus Anxiety Scale Child Form (CVF-C). Journal of Family Research, 17(4), 574-588. https://doi.org/10.52547/JFR.17.4.573
Downloads
Publication Timeline
- Submitted
- Revised
- Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 1404 فاطمه زینلی (نویسنده); رضا احمدی (نویسنده مسئول); طیبه شریفی (نویسنده)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
