Family involvement and treatment for young children with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Randomized control study

Abstract

Background/Objective: The aim of this paper was to evaluate the diferential efficacy of cog- nitive behavioral family treatment in children under 8 years of age with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in the reduction of obsessive-compulsive responses and secondary outcomes in three treatment conditions: (a) Treatment of parents and child, (b) Treatment of mother and child, and (c) Treatment of mother. Method: Forty-four children with obsessive-compulsive disorder, aged 5.2-7.9 years old and their parents, were randomized to one of three groups in a 1:1:1 ratio. Seventy-five percent was male and 100% Caucasian (White-European). Treatment involved 12 individual sessions of is Cognitive-Behavioral Family-Based Treatment delivered. Results: The three conditions produced clinical improvements in post-test and follow-up in the primary (symptom severity OCD) and secondary outcomes. The results showed no intergroup differences in variables related to OCD symptom severity, although statistically significant dif- ferences were found in groups in Internalizing and Externalizing problem, mother and fathers accomodation. Conclusions: The most efficient condition was that including a greater number of family mem- bers even when there was high family accommodation. The direct involvement of the child in the psychological treatment was important in achieving better results