FAQs

Please see the background information on iCATS here.

We are a team of researchers from the University of Oxford. The project is led by Professor Cathy Creswell.

The project is funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).

Yes. All information we collect will be kept secure and in confidence.

For more information about how we keep your information safe, please see our Privacy Notice.

We will ask children, parents and teachers to complete  some initial questionnaires. After completing the questionnaires, each school will be randomly allocated to either the “Feedback & Intervention” group or the “Usual School Practice” group. See below for more information on each of these groups. We will ask all children, parents and teachers to complete questionnaires again 6 months, 1 year and 2 years later.

We  will also ask some parents, children and teachers to take part in separate interviews about their experiences of taking part in the research.  Parents can find out more here. Schools can find out more here.

If you complete the initial questionnaire about your child’s anxiety, we will get in touch to let you know whether your responses suggest your child may be experiencing difficulties with anxiety or not. If your responses suggest your child may be experiencing difficulties with anxiety, we will offer you a brief online
intervention with telephone support from a therapist.

We will also make the intervention available to any families taking part in the project who think it will be useful, regardless of their responses to the initial questionnaires.

We will also provide a lesson on recognising and managing anxiety for children in participating Year 4 classes.

We will then ask all children, parents and teachers to complete questionnaires again 6 months, 1 year and 2 years later.

Your family will continue to receive any existing support and services.

We will ask all children, parents and teachers to complete questionnaires again 6 months, 1 year and 2 years later.

At the end of the project, we will offer you written (electronic) versions of the online intervention.

– Families will be helping us to try to find the best way to make sure children who experience problems with anxiety, get help when they need it.​
– Families will either be offered a brief online intervention and telephone support for child anxiety during the project, or offered a written (electronic) version of the online intervention at the end of the project.

– To say thank you, families receive a £10 gift voucher after completing each set of child and parent/carer questionnaires

At the start of the project, children will be asked to complete some questionnaires which include questions about fears and worries, and other thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The questionnaires take about 40 minutes. 

Children in schools allocated to the “Feedback & Intervention” group will have a lesson where they learn about everyday fears and worries and how to manage them.

We will ask all children to complete similar questionnaires again about 6 months, 1 year and 2 years later.  

Parents will be asked to complete some initial questionnaires which include questions about how much their child experiences anxiety, information about their family and some additional questions about their child’s health, feelings, behaviour, and about their health and their family’s use of services. We will also ask for their contact details so we can get in touch. 

If your child’s school is allocated to the “Feedback & Intervention” group, we may also arrange to talk to you on the telephone, and offer you a brief online intervention.  

We will ask all parents to complete some questionnaires again 6 months, 1 year and 2 years later.

We  will also ask some  parents (and children)  to take part in separate interviews about their experiences of the project. Parents can find out more here. 

Teachers will be asked to complete some short questionnaires about each child in their class who is taking part. Questionnaires will take a few minutes per child.

We will also ask teachers to provide some background information about themselves. 

We will children’s current class teacher to complete the same questionnaires about participating at each follow-up (6 months, 1 year, 2 years later). Schools can find out more here. 

All Year 4 children in classes that are taking part in the project are eligible. All Year 4 children in these classes will be invited to take part unless their parent/carer decides to opt-out. 

Yes! We would like as many children as possible to be involved – we want children who do and don’t struggle with anxiety to take part. 

Let your child’s school know.  Parents receive an information leaflet about the project from the school, together with instructions on how to opt-out. 

That’s fine – you can stop taking part at any point and you can let the team know.