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. 2019 Sep;19(3):218-227.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2019.06.001. Epub 2019 Jul 15.

Family involvement and treatment for young children with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Randomized control study

Ángel Rosa-Alcázar  1 , Ana I Rosa-Alcázar  2 , Pablo J Olivares-Olivares  2 , José L Parada-Navas  3 , Encarnación Rosa-Alcázar  2 , Julio Sánchez-Meca  4
Affiliations

Family involvement and treatment for young children with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Randomized control study

Ángel Rosa-Alcázar et al. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2019 Sep.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background/objective: The aim of this paper was to evaluate the diferential efficacy of cognitive behavioral family treatment in children under 8 years of age with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in the reduction of obsessive-compulsive responses and secondary outcomes in three treatment conditions: (a) Treatment of parents and child, (b) Treatment of mother and child, and (c) Treatment of mother.

Method: Forty-four children with obsessive-compulsive disorder, aged 5.2-7.9 years old and their parents, were randomized to one of three groups in a 1:1:1 ratio. Seventy-five percent was male and 100% Caucasian (White-European). Treatment involved 12 individual sessions of is Cognitive-Behavioral Family-Based Treatment delivered.

Results: The three conditions produced clinical improvements in post-test and follow-up in the primary (symptom severity OCD) and secondary outcomes. The results showed no intergroup differences in variables related to OCD symptom severity, although statistically significant differences were found in groups in Internalizing and Externalizing problem, mother and fathers accomodation.

Conclusions: The most efficient condition was that including a greater number of family members even when there was high family accommodation. The direct involvement of the child in the psychological treatment was important in achieving better results.

Antecedentes/objetivo: El objetivo fue analizar la eficacia diferencial de un tratamiento cognitivo-conductual para la reducción de obsesiones y compulsions y otras medidas secundarias en niños menores de 8 años con Trastorno Obsesivo-Compulsivo (TOC). Las tres condiciones de tratamiento fueron: (a) Tratamiento a los padres y al niño, (b) Tratamiento a la madre y al niño, (3) Tratamiento a la madre.

Método: Cuarenta y cuatro niños, con edades comprendidas entre 5,2–7,9 años, y sus padres fueron asignados al azar a uno de los tres grupos, ratio de 1:1:1. El 75% eran varones y el 100% españoles. El tratamiento consistió en 12 sesiones individuales de Terapia familiar cognitivo-conductual.

Resultados: Las tres condiciones de tratamiento produjeron mejorías clínicas en el postest y seguimiento en las medidas primarias (severidad TOC) y secundarias. Los resultados mostraron que no existían diferencias entre los grupos en las variables relacionadas con síntomas de severidad, mientras que sí se hallaron en problemas internalizantes y externalizantes, y acomodación de la madre y del padre.

Conclusiones: La condición más eficiente fue la que incluía mayor número de miembros familiares, sobre todo cuando había una mayor acomodación familiar. La participación directa del niño en el tratamiento psicológico fue importante para lograr mejores resultados.

Keywords: Cognitive-behavioral Therapy; Experiment; Family involvement; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Young children.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CONSORT Flow diagram of study development. Note: OCD: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; ASD: Autism spectrum disorder. *All couples decided the mother and not the father would participate in the training with the therapist.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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