Targeting Parental Accommodation in Anxiety: An Open Trial of the Coping Cat Accommodation Reduction Intervention

Parental accommodation refers to the ways in which parents modify their behavior to avoid or reduce the distress their child experiences. Parental accommodation of youth anxiety is common, and reduction in accommodation is associated with reduced anxiety after treatment. The current study evaluated the efficacy of an adapted cognitive behavioral therapy program designed to address parental accommodation (Accommodation Reduction Intervention; ARI). Participants ( N = 60) were children and adolescents (age 7–17) and their parents who were evaluated for youth anxiety and parental accommodation before and after 16 weeks of treatment. Half ( n = 30) participated in the open trial of ARI to evaluate its efficacy while half ( n = 30) were a matched sample of youth who completed Coping Cat and served as a comparison condition. Results indicated that both youth anxiety and parental accommodation were significantly reduced in the ARI sample from pre to posttreatment. Exploratory analyses comparing ARI to Coping Cat found no significant difference between the two interventions on any measure of anxiety or accommodation. Findings indicate that an adapted cognitive behavioral therapy program that focuses on parent accommodation (ARI) produced favorable outcomes, and that these outcomes may be comparable to Coping Cat. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.