title: The role of treatment expectancy in youth receiving exposure-based CBT for obsessive compulsive disorder.
abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to examine correlates of parent, child, and therapist treatment expectations and their role in the exposure-based treatment of childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Treatment expectations were assessed among 49 youth with primary OCD, their parents, and therapists as part of the baseline evaluation and post-treatment clinical outcomes were determined by blind evaluators. Baseline depressive symptoms, child/parent-rated functional impairment, externalizing behavior problems, number of comorbid psychiatric disorders, and a lower perception of control were associated with lower pre-treatment expectations. Parent expectation was associated with parental OCD symptoms, child depressive symptoms and child-reported impairment. Therapist expectations inversely correlated with child depressive symptoms, externalizing problems, and child-rated impairment. Pre-treatment OCD severity and prior treatment history were not linked to expectancy. Finally, higher treatment expectations were linked to better treatment response, lower attrition, better homework compliance, and reduced impairment.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida School of Medicine, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA. alewin@health.usf.edu
authors: Adam B
authors: AB
authors: Lewin
authors: Tara S
authors: TS
authors: Peris
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Lindsey Bergman
authors: James T
authors: JT
authors: McCracken
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Piacentini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012718:Set, Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome