SPACE: a Parent-based Treatment for Pediatric OCD

Launched by CHAIM HUIJSER · Apr 9, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The SPACE trial is studying a treatment called Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), which aims to help children aged 7 to 18 years who struggle with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This trial is particularly focused on children who have not gotten better from traditional therapies, like cognitive-behavioral therapy, or who find it too hard to participate in those treatments because of their anxiety. The goal is to see if SPACE can reduce the OCD symptoms and the way families adjust their lives to accommodate the child’s OCD behaviors.

To be eligible for this study, children must meet certain criteria, such as having a confirmed diagnosis of OCD and showing significant symptoms. Parents also need to report that they are making many adjustments in their lives to help their child cope with OCD. Participants can expect to engage in treatment that involves both the child and their parents, with a focus on improving family dynamics and reducing the impact of OCD on family life. It's important to note that this trial is currently recruiting participants and allows for the use of certain medications as long as they have been stable for at least four weeks before joining.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • The child ages between 7 - 18 years old
• • The child meets the DSM-5 criteria for OCD (as primary classification)
• • The child did not benefit from psychological treatment for OCD (either followed 8 to 12 sessions of CBT or other psychotherapy), aborted treatment early or was unable/not motivated to receive treatment due to high levels of anxiety/OCD)
• • At time of baseline still meets the clinical cut-off of 16 or higher for OCD on the Child Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale \[CY-BOCS\].
• • Psychiatric comorbidity is allowed, provided that OCD is the primary treatment target
• • Parents report high levels of Family Accommodation (FA) at time of baseline (meeting the cut-off of 10 or higher on the Family Accommodation Scale Anxiety \[FASA\])
• • Medication use is allowed. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) use (for OCD symptoms) is allowed as well, provided that the medication regime has been stable 4 weeks prior to participation and remains unchanged during participation.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • The child needs inpatient treatment
• • Acute suicidality
• • Psychotic symptoms
• • No participating parents
• • Parents have insufficient mastery of the Dutch language
• • Parents or child have an estimated IQ below 75