Pathways Training Partner Ontario Quebec, Maritimes, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut |
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Evidence BaseFRIENDS is unique in its commitment to evidence-based research support for all aspects of the program. The program's founder, Dr Paula Barrett published the world's first family treatment control trial for childhood anxiety in 1996. She and her research team have since been credited with publishing more controlled trials for childhood anxiety than any other group in the world.FRIENDS is the only clinically validated early intervention and prevention program for anxiety officially recognised in Australia today and has an enviable record of internationally published research articles. In simple terms, this research says that up to 80% of children showing signs of an anxiety disorder no longer display that disorder after completing the program. This effect has been confirmed at up to 6 years post-treatment. Research and evaluation of FRIENDS, including independent replication studies, continues today throughout Australia and overseas. Within Australia, several large scale school-based trials in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland have confirmed the program's ease of use, social acceptability and appropriateness as a universal prevention approach. Overseas trials in Germany, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and Mexico have shown the effectiveness of FRIENDS when translated into other languages. Research from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada also show effectiveness in these cultures. Adaptations have also been made to the program's English delivery to accommodate Australian children from non-English speaking backgrounds and Australian Indigenous populations. FRIENDS remains the leading clinically validated early intervention and prevention program for anxiety.
To download the FRIENDS Evidence Base Abstracts (February 2007) which follow the program's development from
1996 through to the present day and feature research on "Coping Koala" (as the program was first known) and "FRIENDS"
(as it was renamed in 1999) can be downloaded here.
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