Well-being therapy in children with emotional and behavioral disturbances: a pilot investigation.

摘要

Anxiety, mood disorders and somatoform disorders are among the most prevalent forms of psychological suffering during childhood and adolescence. They are often associated with poor academic performance [1] and a number of negative outcomes; furthermore, if untreated, these problems can be predictors of severer anxiety and mood disorders in adulthood [2, 3]. Brent [4] has underlined how, even in the best center with the best clinicians, only 37% of the depressed adolescents involved have remitted. This highlights the need for new treatment modalities, which focus on each child's competencies and the development of optimal functioning in youth [5, 6]. A specific p'sychotherapeutic strategy for enhancing well-being (well-being therapy; WBT) [7] has been developed from the multidimensional model of psychological well-being by Ryff [8]. In controlled trials on adult patients with affective disorders, WBT was found to be effective in determining remission of symptoms, improving psychological well-being and preventing episodes of relapse [9-12].