Citation

Reynolds KA, Walker JR, Walsh K. Clin. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 2014; 20(4): 555-569.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University of Manitoba, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1359104514534948

PMID

24830663

Abstract

The goals of this study were to evaluate the quality of information concerning anxiety disorders in children that is available on the Internet and to evaluate changes in the quality of website information over time. The authors identified websites addressing child anxiety disorders (N = 26) using a Google search and recommendations from an expert in child anxiety. Each website was evaluated on the extent to which it addressed questions that parents consider important, the quality of information, and the reading level. All websites provided adequate information describing treatment options; however, fewer websites had information addressing many questions that are important to parents, including the duration of treatment, what happens when treatment stops, and the benefits and risks of various treatments. Many websites provided inadequate information on pharmacological treatment. Most websites were of moderate quality and had more difficult reading levels than is recommended. Five years after the initial assessment, authors re-analyzed the websites in order to investigate changes in content over time. The content of only six websites had been updated since the original analysis, the majority of which improved on the three aforementioned areas of evaluation. Websites could be strengthened by providing important information that would support parent decision-making.

Language: en