Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for children and adolescents with OCD: a review and recommendations for treatment

Abstract

Objective: To critically review the published literature on cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents.

Method: The psychiatric and psychological literature was systematically searched for "studies" applying cognitive-behavioral principles to children and adolescents with OCD.

Results: Thirty-two investigations, most of them single case reports, were identified. Despite manifold differences in terminology and theoretical framework, all but one showed some benefit for cognitive-behavioral interventions. Graded exposure and response prevention form the core of treatment; anxiety management training and OCD-specific family interventions may play an adjunctive role. Poor compliance, inadequately documented and inconsistently applied treatment, and lack of exportability were recurrent problems.

Conclusions: Abundant clinical and emerging empirical evidence suggest that cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, alone or in combination with pharmacotherapy, is an effective treatment for OCD in children and adolescents. Future research in this area will need to focus on comparisons of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy to other treatments, on component analyses, and on the application of exportable protocol-driven treatments to divergent patient populations.