PS105 CBT via videoconferencing for youths in COVID era: Outcomes on anxiety and depression symptoms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how well online CBT anxiety and depression management psychoeduca-tion programs contribute to reducing the COVID-19 pandemic’s detrimental psychological effects on Turkish children between the ages of 14 and 20. Method This study evaluated the impact of online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-based anxiety and depression man-agement psychoeducation programs on mental health and coping skills in youth ages 14–20 by using a within sub-ject pretest-posttest methodology. To lower the possibility of dropout rates, a total of 4 anxiety psychoeducation and 2 depression psychoeducation groups were created. Each group was arranged based on the participants’ after-school schedules. Out of the two depression psychoeducation groups, 15 attended the 4 sessions, while the remaining 28 attended the first session. Furthermore, of the 4 anxiety psychoeducation groups, 50 attended the initial session, and only 17 finished all four. Every session was conducted using Zoom and lasted approximately 90 minutes. To evaluate the effectiveness of the psychoeducational program, the Revised Child Anxiety Depression Scale, KidCope, and the Demographic Information Form were given both before and after the program. Results In the anxiety psychoeducation group, adaptive coping strategies went up (T = 55.00, z = 2.87, p = .004, r = .49), avoid-ant coping strategies went down (T = 18.00, z = −1.95, p= .050, r = −.33) and anxiety scores went down (T = 30.00, z = −2.20, p = .028, r = −.37). The depression scores and maladaptive coping strategies did not show a significant difference (p > .05). The depression psychoeducation group exhibited For the depression psychoeducation group, a significant decrease in depression scores was found (T = 25.00, z = −1.99, p = .046, r = −.36). Anxiety scores and coping skills showed no changes (p > .05). Conclusion and Discussion Following the online CBT anxiety management psychoeducation program, the results show a large reduction in anx-iety levels, a major decrease in avoiding circumstances that cause anxiety, and a significant increase in coping skills. Participants in this psychoeducation program showed a substantial decline in depression levels. This study contrib-utes to the body of literature suggesting that short psychoeducation programs could be more easily implemented in a variety of contexts, such as schools, counseling centers, virtual settings, and hospitals, saving time and money. Given the study’s limitations (e.g., no control group, high attrition), these results should be interpreted cautiously; however, they do indicate that psychological prevention or intervention programs might be helpful for young people who are unable to attend school due to physical limitations or who are unable to interact in person with social support net-works. Although efforts were made to create a dynamic setting for participants, there was little opportunity for both individual and group contact and involvement. Future research that incorporates active participation programs may therefore be taken into consideration. Furthermore, a control group and follow-up test would strengthen the study’s methodological design.