CBT as Adjunct to Medication Improves OCD Treatment Response in Children

Adding cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) to medication can significantly improve treatment response in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who are only partially responsive to medication treatment. That’s the finding of a study in the September 21 Journal of the American Medical Association. 

In OCD patients aged 7 to 17 who continued to have a Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale score of 16 or higher despite an adequate medication trial, the addition of CBT to medication management, compared with medication management alone, resulted in a significantly greater response rate.

To read coverage in Psychiatric News about research related to CBT for children with OCD, see http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/39/23/32.1.full. And more information about obsessive-compulsive disorder is covered in the APA publication "Let's Talk Facts About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder," which can be ordered at http://appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=2387. In addition, this year American Psychiatric Publishing released the book “Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders: Refining the Research Agenda for DSM-5.” For purchasing information see www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=2659.

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