Cool Little Kids
Cool Little Kids can help parents prevent and reduce anxiety and shyness in their child. Parents with shy and/or anxious children aged 2-6 can now participate in our project!
Background
Every child is afraid from time to time and that is quite normal. However, a number of children are and remain anxious, causing them to develop an anxiety disorder. Despite the fact that there are effective methods for treating anxiety disorders, many children and adults with an anxiety disorder never end up with a therapist. Previous research has shown that children who are very shy and withdrawn around the age of 2-6 years are up to 6 times more likely to develop anxiety disorders later in life. This behaviour is therefore a very suitable indicator for prevention. Unfortunately, there are no available programs in the Netherlands to protect these vulnerable young children against this.
Purpose
The goal of the Cool Little Kids project is to give parents the tools to help prevent anxiety issues in their shy children. We do this by investigating by researching a new program for parents of shy children aged 2-6 years. The project investigates 2 programs:
1. A parent training
In this training, consisting of 6 meetings with 6-8 parents per group, parents receive an explanation about fear and shy behavior. Parents learn techniques that they can apply themselves at home. This training was originally developed in Australia where it has been found to be effective in preventing anxiety problems up to 11 years later.
2. A book with general parenting tips
This book covers various topics that can help parents. Practical tips are also discussed that parents can apply themselves. For example: how can you, as a parent, best deal with your child's feelings and how can you best reward your child for good behavior. Parents who participate in the project will be randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 programs. Just before participating in the program and at 3 moments after the program, they will be asked to fill in a questionnaire and participate in an interview about their child's possible fears.
Sign up and learn more
More information about the Cool Little Kids project, the programmes, the research and how to apply can be found on our project page of Leiden University.
