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. 2022 Feb 4;19(3):1782.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031782.

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C) in Portugal: Feasibility Study Results

Brígida Caiado  1 , Ana Góis  1 , Bárbara Pereira  2 , Maria Cristina Canavarro  1 , Helena Moreira  1
Affiliations

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C) in Portugal: Feasibility Study Results

Brígida Caiado et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The Unified Protocol for Children (UP-C) is a transdiagnostic Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy group intervention for children and caregivers targeting the treatment of children's emotional disorders (EDs). The present study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the UP-C in the Portuguese population using a single-armed design. The participants were 32 children (6-12 years of age) with an ED (anxiety and/or depressive disorder) as a main diagnosis and their parents. All participants received the UP-C intervention and were assessed at pretreatment, midtreatment, posttreatment, and 3 months posttreatment. Children, parents, the clinicians, and an external observer completed questionnaires to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the UP-C (e.g., satisfaction, motivation, and adherence). Children and parents also completed self-report measures assessing the children's anxiety and depression and its interference and severity. The results of the present study support the feasibility and acceptability of the UP-C in Portugal; low dropout rates, high adherence rates, and high levels of child and parent satisfaction and motivation were observed. Moreover, significant reductions over time in children's levels of anxiety and/or depression and of its interference and severity were found and were maintained after 3 months of follow-up. These results are promising and warrant a subsequent randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Keywords: children; emotional disorders; feasibility study; transdiagnostic intervention; unified protocol.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participants Flow Diagram. Note: flowchart adapted by the Consolidated Standard of Reporting Studies Group (CONSORT; Eldridge, Chan, Campbell, Bond, Hopewell, Thabane, et al. CONSORT 2010).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Session-to-session motivation and satisfaction (parents’ (a) and children’s report (b)).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Children’s and parents’ reports on the severity of the three top problems throughout the UP-C intervention. Note. C: children’s report; P: Parents’ report.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The evolution of children’s symptomatology (RCADS total score) and of the interference of the symptomatology in child’s and family life, according to the child’s report (CALIS-C) and parent’s report (CALIS-P).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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