Specific Contamination Symptoms are Associated with Experiencing a Limited Response of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Pediatric Patients with OCD

TY - JOUR

T1 - Specific Contamination Symptoms are Associated with Experiencing a Limited Response of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Pediatric Patients with OCD

AU - Duholm, Charlotte Steen

AU - Jensen, Sanne

AU - Rask, Charlotte Ulrikka

AU - Thomsen, Per Hove

AU - Ivarsson, Tord

AU - Skarphedinsson, Gudmundur

AU - Torp, Nor Christian

AU - Weidle, Bernhard

AU - Nissen, Judith Becker

AU - Højgaard, Davíð R.M.A.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

PY - 2024/8

Y1 - 2024/8

N2 - A recent study identified three distinct treatment-response trajectories in pediatric OCD where higher levels of contamination symptoms predicted a limited response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This study extends these findings by examining which specific symptoms characterize limited CBT response from baseline to 3-year follow-up, with an emphasis on contamination symptoms. The study sample comprised 269 pediatric patients with OCD, all receiving stepped-care treatment with manualized CBT. Differences in single item-reporting between the three trajectory groups were examined using linear mixed-effect modeling. Limited responders displayed a higher symptom load across all OCD symptom categories at 3-year follow-up, dominated by contamination symptoms. Five of these (obsessions about dirt and germs, about bodily fluids, about the feeling of contamination and compulsions regarding handwashing and showering) showed persistence from baseline to 3-year follow-up. The results indicate that presence of specific contamination symptoms may influence long-term symptom severity trajectories in young patients with OCD.

AB - A recent study identified three distinct treatment-response trajectories in pediatric OCD where higher levels of contamination symptoms predicted a limited response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This study extends these findings by examining which specific symptoms characterize limited CBT response from baseline to 3-year follow-up, with an emphasis on contamination symptoms. The study sample comprised 269 pediatric patients with OCD, all receiving stepped-care treatment with manualized CBT. Differences in single item-reporting between the three trajectory groups were examined using linear mixed-effect modeling. Limited responders displayed a higher symptom load across all OCD symptom categories at 3-year follow-up, dominated by contamination symptoms. Five of these (obsessions about dirt and germs, about bodily fluids, about the feeling of contamination and compulsions regarding handwashing and showering) showed persistence from baseline to 3-year follow-up. The results indicate that presence of specific contamination symptoms may influence long-term symptom severity trajectories in young patients with OCD.

KW - Children and adolescents

KW - Cognitive-behavioral therapy

KW - Longitudinal study

KW - Obsessive–compulsive disorder

KW - Obsessive–compulsive symptoms

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143734796&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10578-022-01480-y

DO - 10.1007/s10578-022-01480-y

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36510026

AN - SCOPUS:85143734796

SN - 0009-398X

VL - 55

SP - 1135

EP - 1145

JO - Child Psychiatry and Human Development

JF - Child Psychiatry and Human Development

IS - 4

ER -