This month our featured service is The BRAVE Program, an interactive online program to help children and teenagers (3-17 yrs) overcome anxiety. The program is designed to help with the prevention and treatment of childhood and adolescent anxiety, and provide ways for children and teenagers to better cope with their worries.

The BRAVE Program is a free online program for the prevention and treatment of anxiety in Australian children and young people aged 3-17, and their parents. The program was developed by a team of researchers from the University of Queensland, Griffith University and the University of Southern Queensland, and has been specially designed to teach young people the skills they need to reduce anxiety and cope with stressful situations.

The BRAVE Program offers three programs:

The Young Child Program

The Young Child Program is for children aged 3 to 7, providing parents and caregivers with information and skills to help their child overcome fears and anxiety. It is designed to be a self-help intervention and is not monitored by professionals.

The Child Program

The Child Program is for children aged 8 to 12, teaching better ways of coping with worries and anxiety. It is designed to be a self-help intervention and is not monitored by professionals. The program is also comprised of a parent component.

The Teen Program

The Teen Program is for young people aged 12 to 17, providing information and skills to help cope with worries and anxiety. It is designed for the prevention and treatment of anxiety in young people. The program also includes a parent component.

The BRAVE Program is a collection of programs that are entirely accessible online, with the aim to help address anxiety in young people. As part of the programs, engage in learning sessions at your own pace, browse helpful resources such as fact sheets, videos and worksheets, as well as Brave Ladders which help your child to break down their fears into more manageable pieces.

The BRAVE Program is designed as a self-help resource and so is not monitored or checked by any professionals. However, it can be utilised by health professionals or school-based professionals (teachers, counsellors, guidance officers, psychologists and education support staff) to assist clients and students who are already experiencing anxiety with management strategies.

The team behind The BRAVE Program have developed an Implementation Guide for Professionals which you can download from https://brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au/ providing further insight into the programs and how to use it with clients and students.

The BRAVE Program is designed for Australian children and teenagers aged 3-17 years, and their parents.

Each of the three available programs are designed to address anxiety for a specific age group. The Young Child Program is for aged 3 to 7, the Child Program for 8 to 12 year olds and the Teen Program for 12 to 17 year olds. All programs also come with accompanying Parent Programs, allowing them to participate alongside their child.

There is no cost to use The BRAVE Program.

The BRAVE Program is available online at https://brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au/ at any time. Participants can visit the website to enrol in the program and work through it at their own pace.

For The BRAVE Young Child Program:

• Parental consent is required.
• Users must include their age, name, email address, gender, chosen password, suburb location, and whether or not (parent and children) were born in Australia.

For The BRAVE Child Program:

• Both parent and child consent is required.
• Users must include their age, name, email address, gender, chosen password, suburb location, and whether or not (parent and children) were born in Australia.

For The BRAVE Teen Program:

• Parental consent is required for young people up to 15 years.
• Users must include their age, name, email address, gender, chosen password, suburb location, and whether or not (parent and young person) were born in Australia.

The BRAVE Program has undergone extensive research for over a decade, including a number of Randomised Control Trials and evaluations. There is currently further research being conducted on the efficacy of trans-diagnostic versus specific treatment for children aged 8 to 17 years with Social Anxiety Disorder.

Research citations:

• Conaughton, R. J., et al. (2017). “Efficacy of an Internet-based CBT program for children with comorbid high functioning autism spectrum disorder and anxiety: A randomised controlled trial.” Journal of Affective Disorders 218:260-268.
• Donovan, C. L., et al. (2013). Using new technologies to deliver cognitive behaviour therapy with children and adolescents. Cognitive behaviour therapy for children and families., 3^rd P. Graham and S. Reynolds. New York, NY, Cambridge University Press: 351-370.
• Donovan, C. L., et al. (2017). “Does an online CBT program for anxiety impact upon sleep problems in anxious youth?” Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 46(s): 211-221.
• March, S., et al. (2014). Internet treatment of youth. The Wiley handbook of anxiety disorders, Volume I: Theory and research; Volume II: Chilical assessment and treatment. P. Emmelkamp and T. Ehring, Wiley-Blackwell: 1297-1309
• March, S., et al. (2018). “Large-scale dissemination of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for youth anxiety: Feasibility and acceptability study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research 20(7).
• Moor S, Williman J, Drummond S, Fulton C, Mayes W, Ward N, Dovenberg E, Whitaker C, Stasiak K. ‘E’ therapy in the community: Examination of the uptake and effectiveness of BRAVE (a self-help computer programme for anxiety in children and adolescents) in primary care. Internet Interv. 2019 May 3;18:100249. Doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2019.100249. PMID: 31890607; PMCID: PMC6926167.
• Spence, S. H., Donovan, C. L., March, S., Gamble, A., Anderson, R., Prosser, S., … Kenardy, J. (2008). Online CBT in the Treatment of Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders: Issues in the Development of BRAVE-ONLINE and Two Case Illustrations. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36(4), 411-430. doi: 10.1017/S13524658080044X
• Spence, S. H., Donovan, C. L., March, S., Gamble, A., Anderson, R. E., Prosser, S., & Kenard, J. (2011). A randomized controlled trial of online versus clinic-based CBT for adolescent anxiety. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 79(5), 629. doi: 10.1037/a0024512
• Stasiak, K., et al. (2018). “Delivering solid treatments on shaky ground: Feasibility study of an online therapy for child anxiety in the aftermath of a natural disaster.” Psychotherapy Research 28(4): 643-653.
• Stephens D, Peterson R, Singer M, Johnson J, Rushing SC, Kelley A. Recruiting and Engaging American Indian and Alaska Native Teens and Young Adults in a SMS Help-Seeking Intervention: Lessons Learned from the BRAVE Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Dec 16;17(24):9437. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17249437. PMID: 33339260; PMCID: PMC7765783