Enhancing the Acceptability of Psychological Treatments for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Summary

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Description

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious and often severe mental disorder and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Effective psychological interventions for OCD exist, but the prevailing option (Exposure and Response Prevention; ERP) has changed very little since it was establi...

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious and often severe mental disorder and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Effective psychological interventions for OCD exist, but the prevailing option (Exposure and Response Prevention; ERP) has changed very little since it was established in the 1960's; moreover, it is associated with unacceptably high numbers of individuals who drop out from, or refuse the treatment altogether. This is largely because ERP is a difficult treatment, wherein individuals face their fears with increasing difficulty over time. Just as with the development from early chemotherapy and HIV agents, which were effective, but associated with serious and often severe side effects, it is now time to enhance the acceptability of psychological treatments for OCD. A novel cognitive therapy (CT) approach is likely to be just as effective as ERP, but markedly more acceptable to those who need it. Although CT for OCD is as effective as ERP, previously tested CTs have failed to incorporate recent experimental research, novel cognitive targets or enhancements to acceptability. Indeed, the investigators recent work on treatment acceptability promises to increase the number of individuals who can fully and successfully engage with the treatment. The purpose of this research is to enhance the acceptability of cognitive-behavioural treatments for OCD; the investigators aim to accomplish this via a randomized controlled trial comparing traditional ERP against the investigators' novel CT approach. Although the investigators expect both treatments to be effective, the primary hypothesis is that CT will be significantly more acceptable to participants than ERP; this will be assessed by the relative numbers of treatment refusers and dropouts, as well as by participant ratings of treatment acceptability.

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