OBJECTIVE: To compare, via a pilot study, the effectiveness of behavior therapy and of drug treatment in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder. METHOD: Twenty-two children aged between 8 and 18 years were randomly assigned to behavior therapy (n = 12) or open clomipramine (n = 10) in a parallel design lasting 12 weeks. Behavior therapy included exposure and response prevention administered in weekly sessions. The mean dosage of clomipramine was 2.5 mg/kg (range = 1.4-3.3 mg/kg). The main outcome variables were the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) and the Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version (LOI-CV). RESULTS: Significant improvement was obtained in both treatment conditions. Behavior therapy produced stronger therapeutic changes than clomipramine on the CY-BOCS (p < .05), whereas on the LOI-CV no significant differences between the results of the two treatments were found. Five of the nine initial nonresponders showed significant changes after extension of treatment for another 12 weeks. CONCLUSION:Behavior therapy is shown to be a good alternative for drug treatment and deserves further study in larger samples of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To compare, via a pilot study, the effectiveness of behavior therapy and of drug treatment in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder. METHOD: Twenty-two children aged between 8 and 18 years were randomly assigned to behavior therapy (n = 12) or open clomipramine (n = 10) in a parallel design lasting 12 weeks. Behavior therapy included exposure and response prevention administered in weekly sessions. The mean dosage of clomipramine was 2.5 mg/kg (range = 1.4-3.3 mg/kg). The main outcome variables were the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) and the Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version (LOI-CV). RESULTS: Significant improvement was obtained in both treatment conditions. Behavior therapy produced stronger therapeutic changes than clomipramine on the CY-BOCS (p < .05), whereas on the LOI-CV no significant differences between the results of the two treatments were found. Five of the nine initial nonresponders showed significant changes after extension of treatment for another 12 weeks. CONCLUSION: Behavior therapy is shown to be a good alternative for drug treatment and deserves further study in larger samples of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Authors: Joseph F McGuire; John Piacentini; Adam B Lewin; Erin A Brennan; Tanya K Murphy; Eric A Storch Journal: Depress Anxiety Date: 2015-06-30 Impact factor: 6.505
Authors: J Freeman; J Sapyta; A Garcia; D Fitzgerald; M Khanna; M Choate-Summers; P Moore; A Chrisman; N Haff; A Naeem; J March; M Franklin Journal: Child Psychiatry Hum Dev Date: 2011-08
Authors: Tim I Williams; Paul M Salkovskis; Liz Forrester; Sam Turner; Hilary White; Mark A Allsopp Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2009-11-17 Impact factor: 4.785