Cognitive Behavior Therapy Tailored to Anxiety Symptoms Improves Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of a stepped care model, and establish the effect of a tailored cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the Aim to Decrease Anxiety and Pain Treatment (ADAPT), compared with standard medical treatment as usual on pain-related outcomes and anxiety. Study design Eligible patients between the ages of 9 and 14 years with FAPD (n = 139) received enhanced usual care (EUC) during their medical visit to a gastroenterologist. Those that failed to respond to EUC were randomized to receive either a tailored CBT (ADAPT) plus TAU, or TAU only. ADAPT dose (4 sessions of pain management or 6 sessions of pain and anxiety management) was based on presence of clinically significant anxiety. Outcomes included feasibility, based on recruitment and retention rates. Response to ADAPT+TAU versus TAU on pain-related outcomes and anxiety measures was also investigated using a structural equation modeling (SEM) equivalent of a MANCOVA. Anxiety levels and ADAPT dose as moderators of treatment effects were also explored. Results Based on recruitment and retention rates, stepped care was feasible. EUC was effective for only 8% of youth. Participants randomized to ADAPT+TAU showed significantly greater improvements in pain-related disability, but not pain levels, and greater improvements in anxiety symptoms compared with those randomized to TAU only. Anxiety and ADAPT treatment dose did not moderate the effect of treatment on disability nor pain. Conclusions Tailoring care based on patient need may be optimal for maximizing the use of limited psychotherapeutic resources while enhancing care.