Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy together with Antidepressant Effective in Treating
Adolescent OCD
January / February 2005
According to a recent study completed by the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Duke University Medical
Center, children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
generally respond better to a combination of cognitive behavior
therapy (CBT) and an antidepressant medication such as sertraline
than they do to either treatment individually. The study,
the first to test the efficacy of combining these two treatments
in pediatric patients, lasted five years and involved 112
children ages seven to 17. The results of the study appeared
in the October 2004 issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
“According to the data, some children may respond
to CBT alone, and others to sertraline alone, but most patients
did better with a combination of the two,” says Edna
B. Foa, PhD, professor of psychology in psychiatry and director,
Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety; and co-principal
investigator for Penn’s component of The Pediatric
OCD Treatment Study, which was funded by the National Institute
for Mental Health.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive CBT plus sertraline,
CBT alone, sertraline alone or a placebo for 12 weeks. The
researchers found that 53.6 percent of the participants in
the combination group (CBT plus sertraline) showed little
or no symptoms by the end of treatment. For those only given
CBT, 39.3 percent of participants showed less severe OCD
symptoms. And, for those patients who only received sertraline,
21.4 percent demonstrated less severe OCD symptoms.
Interestingly, the Penn specific data showed that CBT alone
could be more effective than medication and effective as
medication and CBT combined. “This suggests that the
manner in which the therapists provide CBT is an important
factor in determining the effectiveness of the treatment,” says
Dr. Foa.
Since most children who receive selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs) continue to have clinical symptoms, the
Center for the Treatment and Study for Anxiety will conduct
a second study to investigate the efficacy of augmenting
SSRIs with adjunctive CBT.
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Referring Physicians: To speak with a Penn physician
or refer a patient, contact PennHealth through the secure online
referral form or by calling
1-800-789-PENN
(7366). |
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