A Controlled Trial of Daily Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder...
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderPediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic and often disabling illness with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 1 to 3%. Pediatric OCD is associated with significant social, educational, and familial impairment, as well as comorbid emotional and behavioral disturbances that serve to complicate the prognosis of the illness and treatment outcome. While limited open treatment trials and one controlled trial have demonstrated cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to be effective for pediatric OCD, controlled trials are lacking in the literature. There are a number of incremental benefits that an intensive program for OCD may offer. First, existing outpatient interventions typically achieve treatment gains over a 15 to 20 week period. The present program typically lasts between 2 to 4 weeks, and thus may present as a more timely, cost-effective, and efficient means of treatment for some individuals. Second, given that many children and adolescents may not have access to mental health professionals who are trained in empirically grounded interventions for OCD, the present treatment setting allows youth to receive appropriate, state of the art care. Finally, evidence suggests that daily CBT may be particularly effective in treating children who have been refractory to prior treatments (e.g., medication or once per week CBT). Prior to treatment, all consenting families will be randomly assigned to either the treatment condition or a three-week wait-list control condition. Those families randomized to the wait-list condition will receive treatment immediately after the three weeks are completed. The treatment group will be administered all measures immediately before treatment, immediately after treatment, and three months after treatment. The wait-list control condition will be administered all measures upon starting the wait-list period, immediately following the conclusion of the three-week wait-list period, and after the treatment program has finished. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy of daily cognitive-behavioral treatment for pediatric OCD.
Memantine Augmentation in Treatment-Resistant Adults With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common psychiatric illness that affects up to 2-3% of the population. People with OCD experience anxiety-provoking, intrusive thoughts, known as obsessions, and feel compelled to perform repetitive behaviors, or compulsions. The only medications proven effective for OCD are serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs), but even with SRI treatment, most patients continue to experience significant OCD symptoms, impaired functioning, and diminished quality of life. Recent evidence suggest that a different neurotransmitter, glutamate, may contribute to the symptoms in OCD. Medications that target glutamate hold promise for ameliorating symptoms for those patients continuing to suffer from OCD. In this study the investigators are recruiting patients to receive the drug memantine, which is thought to modulate the neurotransmitter glutamate, added to whatever other OCD medications they are taking. Open label memantine will be titrated in 5mg increments weekly to target dose of 10mg po bid for up to 6 weeks. Memantine will be continued to 12 weeks in those with treatment response,13 either previous response to ketamine (≥ 35% Y-BOCS reduction 1 week after IV ketamine) or current response to memantine (≥ 35% Y-BOCS reduction from pre- to post-6 weeks of memantine).
Family Focused Treatment of Pediatric Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderPediatric obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic, impairing condition that accrues significant concurrent and long-term risk to affected youth (Piacentini et al. 2003; Pine et al. 1998). Although a host of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments have proliferated over the past decade (Barrett et al., 2008), many youth fail torespond to treatment and many who do respond continue to exhibit lingering symptoms and impairment. Thus, there is still much to be done by way of optimizing treatment outcomes for pediatric OCD. Increasingly, efforts to improve existing treatments have focused on aspects of the family environment that may affect treatment adherence and the maintenance of therapeutic gains. Such work suggests that parental accommodation and criticism are common characteristics of the home environment for both adults and children with OCD (Calvocoressi et al., 1999; Peris, Roblek, Langley, Chang, McCracken, & Piacentini, 2008; Van Noppen et al., 1991) and that, in adult samples, these family features are associated with poorer treatment outcome and greater risk of relapse (Amir, Freshman, & Foa, 2000; Chambless & Steketee, 1999;Leonard et al., 1993). These family-level variables are logical targets for intervention, particularly among treatment refractory groups of youth with OCD. However, they often are unaddressed in extant interventions. The current study tests a novel intervention that specifically targets family accommodation and conflict in an effort to foster an environment that supports a graded exposure approach to treatment. The proposed treatment, Positive Family Interaction Therapy (PFIT), is composed of an innovative blend of techniques that address several potential barriers to treatment. First, the treatment is guided by the specific needs of youth with OCD and their families (e.g., accommodation, conflict). The first phase of the proposed study will involve an open case series in order to assess the utility of the PFIT protocol and feasibility of training other therapists and using the manual with a range of patient presentations. The second phase will involve a small controlled feasibility trial evaluating the extent to which recruitment, randomization, and implementation of the control condition are viable for further study. It is hypothesized that the PFIT treatment will be feasible to implement and will yield higher levels of patient satisfaction compared to treatment as usual.
2/2 D-Cycloserine Augmentation of CBT for Pediatric OCD
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderThe purpose of this study is to find out if D-Cycloserine (DCS), taken at the same time as a child gets cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help children with pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a talking therapy that will teach children new skills to better cope with his/her OCD. CBT usually uses "exposure-based therapy". This means that the person with OCD slowly learns to deal with things they usually avoid. This is done by moving from less stressful situations to more challenging ones. The investigators hope to enroll about 75 children ages 7-17 years old with OCD in this study at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is paying for this study to be done. If your child qualifies for the study, the investigators will assign him or her by chance (like a coin toss) to either the DCS group or the placebo group. You and the study doctor cannot choose your child's study group. Your child will have an equal chance (1 in 2) of being assigned to the DCS group. Your child will be asked to take one or two capsules of the study drug (either DCS or placebo, depending which study group they were assigned to) one hour before CBT visits 4-10. The study coordinator will give your child the study drug at the location of the CBT sessions. This is to make sure that your child takes the study drug one hour before his/her scheduled therapy session. We will ask you to record any bad side effect from the study drug that your child may have before each CBT session. It will take your child about 34 weeks to complete the study. During this time, the investigators will ask you and your child to make a minimum of 17 trips to the study center. There may be up to 23 trips when including CBT Booster sessions. This study uses a placebo. The placebo looks exactly like the DCS, but it contains no DCS. The investigators use placebos in research studies to learn if the the results are caused by the study drug or are due to other reasons. This is a double-blind study. A double-blind study is a study where both the doctor and the study participant do not know whether the study participant is being given DCS or placebo.
Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderThis study will evaluate the use of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) to reduce symptom severity and enhance the quality of life for patients with treatment-resistant obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Escitalopram for the Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive Compulsive DisorderThe purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of Escitalopram in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder and to determine the optimal treatment dose.
St. John's Wort Vs. Placebo in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Obsessive Compulsive DisorderThe purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of St. John's Wort as compared to placebo (an inactive substance) in the treatment of outpatients with obsessive compulsive disorder.
Treatment for Anxiety in Children
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderAnxiety Disorders3 moreThe purpose of this study is to see if it is effective to treat children with anxiety disorders with fluvoxamine. Fluvoxamine has been successfully used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adults and children. Anxiety disorders other than OCD, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, or separation anxiety, are very common in youth and are not always responsive to behavioral therapies alone. These disorders may respond to fluvoxamine. A child will be evaluated for 3 weeks before he/she is assigned randomly (like tossing a coin) to receive either fluvoxamine or an inactive placebo for 8 weeks. After this double-blind phase (neither the child/parents nor the doctor know which treatment is being given), the child will have the option of continuing treatment during a 4-month open-label extension period (both the child/parents and the doctor know which the child is receiving). A child may be eligible for this study if he/she: Is 6 to 17 years old and has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (i.e., generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, or separation anxiety).
Tolcapone in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderThe proposed study will consist of a 5-week double-blind cross-over study trial of tolcapone in 20 people (ages 18-65). The study will be divided into an initial 2 week phase and a second 2 week phase, with one of the 2 week phases consisting of active treatment with tolcapone, and the other 2 week phase consisting of inactive placebo treatment. There will be a one-week wash-out phase between the 2-week treatment phases. Participants will be randomized to receive either tolcapone or placebo during the first 2 week phase on a 1:1 basis. This blinding will be maintained by the IDS pharmacy at the University of Chicago.
Combining Acceptance and Commitment Therapy With Exposure and Response Prevention to Enhance Treatment...
Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderThe aim of the study was to evaluate whether integrating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) increases the acceptability, tolerability, and adherence with ERP techniques relative to ERP without ACT. Fifty-eight adults with a DSM-IV diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) received 16 twice-weekly sessions (2 hours per session) of either ERP with the inclusion of ACT techniques (ERP+ACT; n = 30) or ERP alone (n = 28). Assessments using interviews, self-report questionnaires, and behavioral observations were conducted at pre- and post-test, and at 6 month follow-up. Specific hypotheses were: 1) Patients receiving ERP+ACT will report greater treatment acceptability, and show higher quantity and quality of completed self-directed ERP assignments, relative to patients receiving standard ERP; 2) Both ERP and ERP+ACT will lead to clinically significant reductions in OCD symptoms from pre- to post-test and from pre-test to follow-up.