--- title: "Psych News Alert: Child and Family Focused CBT Improves Symptoms of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, Study Shows" description: A form of cognitive behavior therapy that involves the child with the family may be efficacious in reducing acute mood symptoms and impro... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_69502150-Jun-24-2025-07-28-25-5218-PM.jpg --- 9/25/14 12:00 AM # Child and Family Focused CBT Improves Symptoms of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, Study Shows ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/09/child-and-family-focused-cbt-improves.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/09/child-and-family-focused-cbt-improves.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/09/child-and-family-focused-cbt-improves.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/09/child-and-family-focused-cbt-improves.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/09/child-and-family-focused-cbt-improves.html) | ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_69502150-Jun-24-2025-07-28-24-6177-PM.jpg?width=200&height=133&name=shutterstock_69502150-Jun-24-2025-07-28-24-6177-PM.jpg) | | | --- | --- | A form of cognitive behavior therapy that involves the child with the family may be efficacious in reducing acute mood symptoms and improving long-term psychosocial functioning among children with bipolar disorder, according to a [report](http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(14)00617-0/abstract) appearing online in the *Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry*. Previous studies have found that family-based psychosocial treatments are effective adjuncts to pharmacotherapy among adults and adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD). Amy E. West, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois-Chicago, and colleagues, randomly assigned 69 youth, aged 7 to 13 with bipolar I, II, or not otherwise specified (NOS) disorder (according to *DSM-IV-TR*) to either child and family focused CBT (CCF-CBT) or standard psychotherapy. CFF-CBT integrates principles of family-focused therapy with those of CBT and actively engages parents and children. Both treatments consisted of 12 weekly sessions followed by six monthly booster sessions delivered over nine months. Independent evaluators assessed participants at baseline, week 4, week 8, week 12 (post-treatment), and week 39 (six-month follow-up). They found that the CFF-CBT participants attended more sessions, were less likely to drop out, and reported greater satisfaction with treatment than controls. CFF-CBT demonstrated efficacy compared with standard psychotherapy in reducing parent-reported mania at post-treatment and depression symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up. Global functioning did not differ at post-treatment but was higher among CFF-CBT participants at follow-up. For more on bipolar disorder in adolescents, see the *Psychiatric News* article "[Link Found Between Glutamate, Adolescent Bipolar Disorder](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1890243)." ***NOTE:** The topic for APA’s #YourMH [@TWITTER](https://twitter.com/) chat tomorrow is traumatic brain injury. #YourMH chat takes place every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. ET. To join, use #YourMH (stands for "Your Mental Health"), [@APAPSYCHIATRIC](https://twitter.com/APAPsychiatric), or #TBI. If you haven't created a Twitter account yet, click [here](https://twitter.com/) to do so now. And during the chats, don't just sit on the sidelines—be a part of the conversation!* (Image: Lisa F. 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[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/08/blood-flow-measure-may-help-clinicians.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T19:32:24.822Z", "datePublished" : "2014-09-25T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Child and Family Focused CBT Improves Symptoms of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, Study Shows", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_69502150-Jun-24-2025-07-28-25-5218-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/09/child-and-family-focused-cbt-improves.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```