About the program

Cool Little Kids is an early intervention version of the Cool Kids program that aims to educate parents on how best to parent a child with anxiety. 

Program structure

Six x 2-hour group sessions over 6 to 8 weeks, or 6 x 1-hour individual sessions covering:

• Understanding anxiety and shyness in preschool children
• Causes and risk factors for child anxiety
• Helpful and unhelpful ways of responding to anxiety in children
• Skills and strategies to help your child build brave behaviours and face fears
• Dealing with setbacks and difficulties
• How to maintain progress after the program ends. 

Evaluation and effectiveness

The program has undergone several randomised controlled trials (RCT) including an RCT for a slightly modified version of the program aimed at high-risk children. Children whose parents participate in the program show signficant decreases in anxiety diagnoses and a lower frequency and severity of anxiety symptoms (Rapee et al., 2005; Rapee et al., 2010; Rapee et al., 2013). High-risk children showed a signficant reduction in anxiety disorders (Kennedy et al., 2009).

Learn more about the Cool Little Kids program. 

References

Kennedy, S., Rapee, R.M., & Edwards, S. (2009). A selective intervention program for inhibited preschool-aged children of parents with an anxiety disorder: Effects on current anxiety disorders and temperament. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(6), 602-609.

Rapee, R.M., Kennedy, S., Ingram, M., Edwards, S., & Sweeney, L. (2005). Prevention and early intervention of anxiety disorders in inhibited preschool children.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(3), 488-497.

Rapee, R.M., Kennedy, S., Ingram, M., Edwards, S., & Sweeney, L. (2010). Altering the trajectory of anxiety in at-risk young children. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 167(12), 1518-1525.

Rapee, R.M. (2013). The preventative effects of a brief, early intervention for preschool-aged children at risk for internalising: Follow-up into middle adolescence.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(7), 780-788.