---
title: "Psych News Alert: CBT as Adjunct to Medication Improves OCD Treatment Response in Children"
description: Adding cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) to medication can significantly improve treatment response in children with obsessive-compulsive dis...
---

[Psych News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org)

# [Psych News Alert: CBT as Adjunct to Medication Improves OCD Treatment Response in Children](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/09/cbt-as-adjunct-to-medication-improves.html)

 Written by [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) | 9/21/11 4:00 AM

<https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_53312143-Jun-24-2025-07-35-09-9534-PM.jpg> 

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](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](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](http://www.appi.org/SearchCenter/Pages/SearchDetail.aspx?ItemId=2659) .

(Image:Shutterstock)

[View full post](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/09/cbt-as-adjunct-to-medication-improves.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T19:38:29.254Z",
  "datePublished" : "2011-09-21T04:00:00Z",
  "headline" : "CBT as Adjunct to Medication Improves OCD Treatment Response in Children",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 500,
    "url" : "https://46880868.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/46880868/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_53312143-Jun-24-2025-07-35-11-8532-PM.jpg",
    "width" : 500
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/09/cbt-as-adjunct-to-medication-improves.html",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Psych News Alert"
  }
}
```