The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between mental health and school functioning among school-aged youth. This study examined changes in anxiety or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) among children and adolescents, following cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in clinical settings, and how this related to changes in their executive functioning, self-efficacy, and school engagement. This research was conducted with children and adolescents diagnosed with anxiety disorders or OCD, who received modular CBT treatment as usual, and their parents. Using a modified pre- and post-treatment design, participants completed quantitative measures of anxiety or OCD, metacognitive awareness, executive function, self-efficacy, and school engagement. A subsample of participants also completed follow-up surveys in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, as well as phone interviews. Findings showed that youth experienced reductions in symptomology after a course of CBT, with differing parent and child perspectives regarding initial symptom levels and changes in symptoms. Results also showed that, overall, participants experienced improvements in some aspects of executive function (e.g., emotion regulation). Participants also experienced improvements in self-efficacy and school engagement, alongside their reductions in anxiety or OCD symptoms. Implications of these findings for parents, educators, and future research are discussed.
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