Efficacité d'une thérapie cognitivo-comportementale auprès d'enfants présentant en concomitance un trouble déficitaire de l'attention avec ou sans hyperactivité et un trouble anxieux

About 25% of children with attention-deficit with hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) report anxiety disorder (AD). Such high prevalence for this double diagnosis leads to many questions in regard of the treatment. Our research team has developed a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program specifically addressing anxiety symptoms in children presenting both ADHD and AD. The main objective of the present study is to assess the efficiency of the CBT program for reducing anxiety symptoms and parental stress. The CBT program for children include 10 weekly sessions, lasting 2 hours, combined with an intervention group for parents and joint activities for parents and children. Fourteen families with children aged between 8 and 12 years old, are included in the study. All children have ADHD diagnosis with comorbid AD. Semi-structured interviews and self-reported questionnaires are used to assess anxiety symptoms in children and parental stress. Results show that the CBT program leads to a significant reduction of anxiety symptoms in children as well as a reduction of parental stress. This strongly supports the importance of CBT programs designed for children with ADHD and AD.