Fear crush: Effect of an interventional program for elementary school children with performance anxiety

Abstract

The prevalence of mental disorders in Portugal is 23%. Of these, anxiety disorders are most prevalent. Given these data, the development and implementation of remediate programs in general takes urgent character, especially in the younger population, where it is estimated that one in every five children suffer from some mental disorder. Given the lack of intervention programs in performance anxiety, we propose the development and implementation of a group program for elementary school children, targeting both the improvement and possible recovery of this condition as a means of reducing school failure in these children. In this program the following aspects will be addressed: the study and regulation of emotions; perceptions of self-efficacy; and therapeutic strategies based on third generation of cognitive behavior therapy–acceptance and commitment therapy. As a non-randomized controlled study, this project involves the development, implementation and validation of the intervention program. To this end, an assessment protocol will be administered to both control and experimental groups. This latter protocol will be administered at three different times: before and after implementation of the program and as a follow-up evaluation 6 months later. This program aims to promote emotional regulation in children with performance anxiety and, concurrently, to improve chances for their possible recovery as well as the reduction of significant school failure rates among Azorean children. The implementation of this therapeutic group intervention program with elementary school children may also prevent later interventions in other health and educational settings.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.