Preliminary investigation of web-camera delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Psychiatry Res. 2011 Oct 30;189(3):407-12. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2011.05.047. Epub 2011 Jun 17.

Abstract

This study reports a waitlist controlled randomized trial of family-based cognitive-behavioral therapy delivered via web-camera (W-CBT) in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thirty-one primarily Caucasian youth with OCD (range=7-16years; 19 male) were randomly assigned to W-CBT or a Waitlist control. Assessments were conducted immediately before and after treatment, and at 3-month follow-up (for W-CBT arm only). Primary outcomes included the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), clinical global improvement rates, and remission status. When controlling for baseline group differences, W-CBT was superior to the Waitlist control on all primary outcome measures with large effect sizes (Cohen's d≥1.36). Thirteen of 16 youth (81%) in the W-CBT arm were treatment responders, versus only 2/15 (13%) youth in the Waitlist arm. Similarly, 9/16 (56%) individuals in the W-CBT group met remission criteria, versus 2/15 (13%) individuals in the Waitlist control. Gains were generally maintained in a naturalistic 3-month follow-up for those randomized to W-CBT. This preliminary study suggests that W-CBT may be helpful in reducing obsessive-compulsive symptoms in youth with OCD. Given considerable access issues, such findings hold considerable promise for treatment dissemination.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Anxiety / etiology
  • Child
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / methods*
  • Depression / etiology
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Internet*
  • Male
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / complications
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / rehabilitation*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Treatment Outcome