Relapse prevention program for treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Behavioral Therapy

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental health condition.
• Intensive treatments like exposure and response prevention (ERP) show initial efficacy.
• Sustaining treatment gains and preventing relapse are critical challenges in OCD management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a relapse prevention (RP) program compared to an attention-control (associative therapy, AT) program.
• To determine if RP can help maintain improvements achieved through intensive ERP for OCD.
• To assess long-term symptom stability at a 6-month follow-up.

Main Methods:

• Eighteen participants with OCD underwent 3 weeks of intensive ERP.
• Participants were then randomized to either an RP program or an AT program for 1 week.
• Assessments of OCD symptoms, anxiety, and depression were conducted pre-treatment, post-intensive treatment, post-RP/AT, and at 6-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• Both groups showed immediate improvement after intensive treatment.
• The RP group maintained significant symptom reduction at the 6-month follow-up.
• The AT group exhibited a return of symptoms by the 6-month follow-up.

Conclusions:

• Relapse prevention (RP) is an effective strategy for maintaining treatment gains in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Intensive exposure and response prevention (ERP) followed by RP leads to sustained symptom improvement.
• Associative therapy (AT) as an attention-control did not prevent symptom return.