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The use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in addressing family accommodation (FA) for child anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2021

Gary Byrne
Gary Byrne*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Primary Care Services, Churchtown Primary Care Centre, Dublin 14, Ireland
*
Corresponding author. Email: gary.byrne@hse.ie
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Abstract

Many parents of children with anxiety tend to engage in varying levels of family accommodation (FA) in order to alleviate anxiety symptoms. This can exacerbate anxiety symptoms and have adverse effects for psychological treatments. A small number of general and specific interventions have been developed for FA but treatment research is at a nascent stage. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) may be an effective treatment for FA. This article reviews the potential advantages and uses of ACT and how ACT’s six core processes can help target particular features of FA. The theoretical support for ACT is reviewed relevant to FA. The article concludes by conjecturing how ACT may be a useful and adaptive treatment in targeting FA.

Key learning aims

  1. (1) To understand how FA impacts on child anxiety.

  2. (2) To help provide an overview of how ACT may be a relevant treatment in addressing FA.

  3. (3) To look at how each of the six core processes may address specific components of FA.

Keywords

acceptance and commitment therapychild anxietyfamily accommodationparental accommodationparenting
Type
Original Research
Information
the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist , Volume 14 , 2021 , e9
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2021

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References

Further reading

Byrne, et al. (2020) provide an up-to-date review of ACT treatments for anxious children which include various parental components.Google Scholar
Lebowitz, et al. (2020) show how a parent-led programme focused on reducing FA is an effective treatment.Google Scholar
Storch, et al. (2015a, 2015b) provide an excellent overview of research related to clinical correlates and behaviour treatments of FA.Google Scholar

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