Initial evaluation of a therapist‐supported online cognitive therapy self‐help for patients with taboo obsessions

Abstract

Objectives:The current study evaluated the feasibility of an internet-delivered cognitive therapy (I-CT) in a selfhelp format with minimal therapist support for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with primary taboo obsessions. Specifically, the aims were to investigate (1) whether participants were able to grasp and apply the internet-delivered cognitive framework to their own situation; (2) whether they had clinically meaningful reductions of OCD symptom severity; and (3) whether reduced negative appraisals (hypothesized mechanism of change in CT) preceded reductions in OCD symptom severity. Method: Nineteen OCD patients with primary taboo obsessions, recruited from an OCD clinic or self-referrals, received the I-CT intervention for 10 weeks. I-CT did not contain any systematic exposure or response prevention. Results: Adherence and engagement with the intervention was high. Most participants (n = 13, 68%) understood and successfully applied the cognitive model to their own situation. Within-group analyses showed large reductions in OCD symptom severity at post-treatment (bootstrapped within group d = 1.67 [95% CI; 0.67 to 2.66]) measured with

Predictors of outcome in self‐guided internet‐delivered cognitive‐behavior therapy for obsessive‐compulsive disorder: A preliminary investigation

“…Second, the majority of participants were female (78%) and while females are significantly more likely to meet criteria for OCD compared to males (Kessler et al, 2012), the difference in this study is more pronounced than what would be expected. It is worth highlighting that a high proportion of female participants is commonly seen in ICBT interventions for OCD (Lundström et al, 2022; Olofsdotter Lauri et al, 2022; Schröder et al, 2020), as well as other disorders (Fogliati et al, 2016; Titov et al, 2008), and it is possible that ICBT is a more appealing treatment option for women than men, however, this requires further research.…”