background Cognitive-behavioural therapy (cbt) is the treatment of choice for children with ocd. This therapy is found to be moderately effective. Mechanisms of change in cbt are unclear and models on which therapy is based are hardly studied in children.
The cognitive model is the most prominent model about the development and maintenance of ocd and forms a basic principle for treatment. However, it remains to be seen whether cognitive restructuring is essential for treatment of ocd, especially for children. Not all children with ocd report dysfunctional cognitions. Some children perform their rituals because ‘they have to do it’, or ‘until it feels just right’. Do cognitive models not apply to these children, or do dysfunctional cognitions implicitly still play a role?
An alternative explanation focuses on selective attentional processes. Are children with ocd more vigilant for potential threat, or do they have difficulties to disengage attention from threat?
aim To examine whether obsessive beliefs and attentional processes are mechanisms of change in cbt for children and adolescents with ocd. Knowledge about the effective ingredients of cbt is needed to improve this treatment.
method Participants were 45 children (8-18 years-old) with ocd. Treatment consisted of 16 weekly sessions cbt. Participants were randomised over 2 conditions: cbt, or 8 weeks wait list followed by cbt. Assessments were completed at the start of the wait list, at the start of cbt, after 8 and 16 sessions cbt, and 16 weeks later (followup). Cognitions were measured explicitly using questionnaires (obq-cv, mcq-a) and implicitly using a computer task (iap). Selective attention was measured with a dot-probe task. ocd severity was measured with the cy-bocs.
results The final data will soon be collected.
conclusion The results will be presented and discussed at the conference.