BEHAVIOR-THERAPY VERSUS CLOMIPRAMINE FOR THE TREATMENT OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Objective: To compare, via a pilot study, the effectiveness of behavio r therapy and of drug treatment in children and adolescents with obses sive-compulsive disorder. Method: Twenty-two children aged between 8 a nd 18 years were randomly assigned to behavior therapy (n = 12) or ope n clomipramine (n = 10) in a parallel design lasting 12 weeks. Behavio r therapy included exposure and response prevention administered in we ekly sessions. The mean dosage of clomipramine was 2.5 mg/kg (range = 1.4-3.3 mg/kg). The main outcome variables were the Children's Yale-Br own Obsessive Com pulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) and the Leyton Obsessional I nventory-Child Version (LOI-CV). Results: Significant improvement was obtained in both treatment conditions. Behavior therapy produced stron ger therapeutic changes than clomipramine on the CY-BOCS (p <.05), whe reas an the LOI-GV no significant differences between the results of t he two treatments were found. Five of the nine initial nonresponders s howed significant changes after extension of treatment for another 12 weeks. Conclusion: Behavior therapy is shown to be a good alternative for drug treatment and deserves further study in larger samples of chi ldren with obsessive-compulsive disorder.