Evaluation of FunFRIENDS program in prevention of anxiety in Brazilian children: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the FunFRIENDS protocol on anxiety symptoms, internalizing problems and prosocial behavior in 4- to 5-year old children. Participated of this study 43 children with an allocation ratio of 1:1 between groups (Intervention Group [IG], N = 21; Control Group [CG], N = 22) from a public school in the city of Sao Paulo participated in the study. Behaviors were evaluated by using standardized questionnaires (PAS, CBCL, SDQ, SCBE) assessing the behavioral profile of the children at three different periods; baseline (T0), one month (T1) and three months (T2) after the intervention. It was observed a reduction in the intensity of anxiety symptoms in the IG after the intervention but with no significant effect. Overall, there were no significant differences between the IG and the CG in most behaviors on all periods evaluated. On both Intention-to-Treat analyses also it was not detected significant effects of the intervention. This is the first Brazilian study evaluating the effects of FunFRIENDS program and the implications of these findings are discussed and its significance for future research.

Evaluation of FunFRIENDS program in prevention of anxiety in Brazilian children: a randomized controlled pilot trial / Avaliação do programa FunFRIENDS na prevenção da ansiedade em crianças brasileiras: um estudo piloto randomizado controlado

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the FunFRIENDS protocol on anxiety symptoms, internalizing problems and prosocial behavior in 4- to 5-year old children. Participated of this study 43 children with an allocation ratio of 1:1 between groups (Intervention Group [IG], N = 21; Control Group [CG], N = 22) from a public school in the city of Sao Paulo participated in the study. Behaviors were evaluated by using standardized questionnaires (PAS, CBCL, SDQ, SCBE) assessing the behavioral profile of the children at three different periods; baseline (T0), one month (T1) and three months (T2) after the intervention. It was observed a reduction in the intensity of anxiety symptoms in the IG after the intervention but with no significant effect. Overall, there were no significant differences between the IG and the CG in most behaviors on all periods evaluated. On both Intention-to-Treat analyses also it was not detected significant effects of the intervention. This is the first Brazilian study evaluating the effects of FunFRIENDS program and the implications of these findings are discussed and its significance for future research.

Resumo Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar os efeitos do protocolo FunFRIENDS sobre sintomas de ansiedade, problemas de internalização e comportamento pró-social em crianças de 4 a 5 anos de idade. Participaram 43 crianças que foram alocadas na proporção de 1:1 entre os grupos: (Grupo Intervenção [GI], N = 21; Grupo Controle [GC], N = 22) de uma escola pública da cidade de São Paulo. Os comportamentos foram avaliados por meio de questionários padronizados (PAS, CBCL, SDQ, SCBE), que avaliaram o perfil comportamental das crianças em três momentos distintos; linha de base (T0), um mês (T1) e três meses (T2) após a intervenção. Observou-se uma redução na intensidade dos sintomas de ansiedade no GI após a intervenção, mas sem efeito significativo. De forma geral, não houve diferenças significativas entre o GI e o GC na maioria dos comportamentos em todos os períodos avaliados. Nas duas análises de Intenção-de-Tratar, também não foram detectados efeitos significantes da intervenção. Este é o primeiro estudo no Brasil avaliando os efeitos do programa FunFRIENDS e as implicações destes achados são discutidas para futuras pesquisas.

Interaction between glutamatergic-NMDA and cholinergic-muscarinic systems in classical fear conditioning.

A number of studies have suggested that the glutamatergic and cholinergic systems are both involved in learning and memory processes and that they interact in order to facilitate these processes. However, the role of M1-muscarinic receptors in mediating this interaction has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine whether the concomitant administration of MK-801 (non-competitive NMDA antagonist) and dicyclomine (M1-muscarinic antagonist--DIC) in sub-effective doses impairs contextual fear conditioning (hippocampal-dependent task) and tone fear conditioning tasks (hippocampal-independent task). The results showed that concomitant pre-training administration of DIC (8.0 mg/kg) and MK-801 (0.07 mg/kg)--two sub-effectives doses for the contextual fear conditioning task--does impair the performance of animals on this task (as measured by freezing behavior time). Tone fear conditioning tasks were not affected by the drugs either administered separately or concurrently. The pre-training administration of sub-effective doses of MK-801 and DIC in combination impairs performance on contextual fear conditioning task (hippocampal-dependent), but not on tone fear conditioning task (hippocampal-independent). These data support the hypothesis that the interaction between glutamatergic and cholinergic systems in hippocampus-dependent learning and memory processes probably occurs through M1 receptor.