Table 1 Module content

1. Understanding anxiety

• Nature of child anxiety, its development and the role of temperament

• Overview of program content

• Setting goals

2. Introducing stepladders

• Principles and application of exposure hierarchies (stepladders)

3. Using rewards

• Principles of using rewards effectively to reinforce child behaviour

4. Parenting an anxious child

• Role of overprotection in child anxiety

• Alternative parental strategies, including encouraging greater child independence

2. Troubleshooting stepladders

• Review of stepladder progress

• Troubleshooting difficulties that commonly occur

3. Overcoming barriers

• Overcoming barriers to stepladder practice

• Introduction to cognitive restructuring for parents’ own worries

4. Managing worries

• Cognitive restructuring for parent worries, particularly related to implementing exposure with their child

• Review of stepladders

5. Planning for the future

• Review of progress so far

• Planning of strategies to use for future challenges or high-risk times such as starting school