title: Preliminary investigation of web-camera delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, USA. estorch@health.usf.edu
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Storch
authors.forename: Nicole E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Caporino
authors.forename: Jessica R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Adam B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.forename: Ariz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brauer
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Tanya K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016896:Treatment Outcome