A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children.
UP-C gives the same anxiety relief as child CBT while also cutting depression and boosting coping skills in 7- to 13-year-olds.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dudley et al. (2019) ran a small randomized trial with 7- to 13-year-olds who had anxiety disorders. Half got the Unified Protocol for Children (UP-C), a group that teaches one set of skills for all emotional disorders. The other half got standard child CBT aimed only at anxiety. Both groups had the same number of sessions.
The team tracked anxiety, depression, and emotion-regulation skills for several months.
What they found
Right after treatment, both groups improved the same amount on anxiety scores. UP-C was not better on the main anxiety measure.
At follow-up, the UP-C kids showed stronger gains in lowering depression and using healthy coping skills. The anxiety gap stayed even, but UP-C added extra benefits beyond worry reduction.
How this fits with other research
Perihan et al. (2020) pooled 23 studies and found regular CBT cuts anxiety in autistic youth by a moderate amount. UP-C matches that anxiety drop while also easing mood problems, so it extends the same benefit to a wider feeling menu.
Laposa et al. (2017) showed the adult version of UP works in groups. The new child trial keeps the same core skills but proves they also help 7- to 13-year-olds, updating the earlier adult finding.
Byiers et al. (2025) let parents pick the top three problems in CBT for autistic kids and saw faster gains. UP-C did not use parent-chosen targets yet still caught up on anxiety, suggesting a broad emotion-regulation approach can rival tailored goal setting.
Why it matters
If you run anxiety groups, you can swap in UP-C and get equal worry relief plus better mood and coping scores. One protocol covers anxiety, sadness, and anger, so you do not need separate manuals. Try adding the UP-C emotion-regulation modules—label feelings, use opposite action, practice mindfulness—into your next child group and watch for gains in both worry and depression checklists.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C) is an intervention for children aged 7 to 13 targeting high negative emotion, emotional reactivity, and emotion regulation deficits common across emotional disorders. Our objective was to collect pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) data on the efficacy of the UP-C, comparing UP-C with an active, anxiety-focused intervention. Participants were 47 children with at least one primary anxiety disorder; approximately one half had elevated depression symptoms. Participants received either UP-C or the anxiety-focused control treatment. No condition-related differences were found with respect to diagnostic remission and anxiety symptoms. However, differences in favor of UP-C were observed with respect to treatment response at follow-up, depression symptoms, sadness dysregulation, and cognitive reappraisal. Results provide preliminary evidence that the UP-C may be at least as efficacious in treating anxiety as well-supported anxiety-specific treatment protocols and may produce greater gains in certain emotion reactivity and regulation variables.
Behavior modification, 2019 · doi:10.1177/0145445517753940