This program is for youth who are 7 to 13 years old and have generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias, separation anxiety disorder, or other anxiety-related problems and their parents.

Coping Cat, a community-based, cognitive-behavioral therapy program, is designed to provide youth and their parents with tools to understand and manage youth anxiety.

Results from one internal randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated significant reductions in teacher-reported youth anxiety at a 1-year follow-up. The percentage of youth free of their original diagnosis remained higher for Coping Cat youth at a 1-year follow-up; however, this was not statistically significant. A second internal RCT indicated that a significantly greater percentage of Coping Cat youth were in recovery at a 1-year follow-up, compared to an active-treatment group. However, there were no differences between groups in child- or parent-report of anxiety symptom severity at follow-up. An internal RCT was conducted in which participants were randomized to Coping Cat (CBT), sertraline, combination (COMB), or placebo. Long-term results demonstrated improved trajectories for life satisfaction, overall impairment, impairment in academic functioning, and increasing employment rates for individuals in the CBT or COMB compared to individuals in the placebo group. However, analysis of stable remission indicated that only 21.7% of youth achieved remission over follow-up, and treatment type was not associated with remission status at any point across follow-up.

Coping Cat intends to teach youth coping skills that address the cognitive processes, emotional arousal, and behavioral avoidance that are associated with anxiety. The program is implemented in two phases.

Phase One (Sessions 1-9) – Youth and their primary caregivers are taught coping skills that are summarized in the four-step FEAR plan:

• Feeling Frightened? – Children ask themselves if they are feeling frightened and learn to build awareness of bodily reactions to emotions;
• Expecting bad things to happen? – Children identify what they think might happen in the situation and become familiar with their anxious thoughts and self-talk;
• Attitudes and actions that can help – Children learn additional coping skills such as questioning and challenging their anxious self-talk, replacing anxious self-talk with healthy thoughts, and problem-solving; and
• Results and rewards – Children learn to reward themselves for being brave and for trying to manage their anxiety.

Phase Two (Sessions 10-16) – Youth practice coping skills in exposure tasks.

There is a shorter, 8-session version of this program called Brief Coping Cat*.

*A separate Fact Sheet is available for this program.

Coping Cat has been implemented in the United States where it was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Cultural adaptations have been made to disseminate the program in other countries including Argentina, Hong Kong, Norway, Poland, and Spain.

This program is facilitated by professional therapists. Please use details in the Contact section for information on training.

Considerations for implementing this program include recruiting therapists who are skilled in working with youth and are committed to this program, engaging youth and parents in the treatment process, and locating space to hold sessions.

The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

If you are interested in implementing Coping Cat, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Coping Cat consists of 16-weekly, 50-minute sessions.

The therapist manual, 3rd edition, is $24, and the youth workbook, 2nd edition, is $26.95. Please visit https://www.workbookpublishing.com/ for more information.

To move the Coping Cat program to the Effective category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one external evaluation must be conducted that demonstrates sustained, positive outcomes. This study must be conducted independently of the program developer.

The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu

You may also contact Dr. Philip C. Kendall by phone 1-215-204-7165, fax 1-215-204-0566, email pkendall@temple.edu, or visit https://www.workbookpublishing.com/

https://www.workbookpublishing.com/, https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/coping-cat/detailed and Norris and Kendall (2020)