June 24, 2026 · The American journal of psychiatry · DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20251037

A Pragmatic SMART Study of Medication and CBT Sequencing in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial

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The authors aimed to determine whether starting treatment for pediatric anxiety disorders with fluoxetine or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) leads to better outcomes, and how to optimize treatment if initial care is insufficient. The study found that symptom reduction was similar across all treatment sequences, with no significant advantage of combination therapy over monotherapy after three months. Additionally, the effectiveness of treatment varied by racial and ethnic background, suggesting the importance of tailoring approaches to individual patient preferences.

Bradley S Peterson, Amy E West, V Robin Weersing, Ravi Bansal, Jeremy Yu, Robert L Findling, Courtney M Marcelino, Kathryn Smith, Corinna Koebnick, Ceth Ashen, Christopher Snowdy, Stephanie N Marcy, Bradley O Hudson, Marie Poulsen, Bhavana Kumar Arora, Marisa Perez, Merima Jurici, Glenn Takata, Irene Chen, Michele D Kipke, Brian S Mittman, Steven Piantadosi, John R Weisz, Wendy J Mack

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