A study by the Karolinska Institutet found that digital cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could be highly beneficial for children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
The study, which was initially published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA, involved a three-year evaluation of digital CBT with OCD-diagnosed children and adolescents.
Within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, 152 participants were recruited.
The study, a randomized clinical noninferiority trial, began in 2017 and concluded in mid-2019, with a mean age of 13 and a majority of female participants.
The digital CBT program administered to the participants was determined to be as effective as in-person CBT in treating OCD symptoms in children and adolescents.
As emphasized in a news release of the findings, “Among children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment with an internet-delivered CBT program followed by in-person CBT if necessary compared with in-person CBT alone resulted in a non-inferior difference in symptoms at the 6-month follow-up.”
“Further research is needed to understand the durability and generalizability of these findings.”
