Intensive Treatments for Adolescents with Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia: Helping Youth Move beyond Avoidance

Abstract

Panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) contributes to significant impairment and distress in adolescence, particularly when left untreated. Cognitive behavioral treatment of panic disorder in adolescents has now been developed and delivered in a traditional once per week format, and has also recently been adapted for delivery in an intensive format delivered over eight consecutive days. We provide a brief review of research efforts to date on the development and evaluation of intensive treatments for panic disorder in adolescence. Recent studies suggest that the intensive, eight-day treatment approach is associated with comparable reductions in PDA symptoms as compared to the once-weekly treatment and shows promise for reducing the impairing symptoms of PDA and its comorbid conditions. Ongoing research and future directions to further this body of work will be discussed.