Early College Coursework #3

Karla Valladares-Diaz PSY 150, Section 100 March 13, 2013 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Annotated Bibliography Heyman, I., Krebs, G., Mataix-Cols, D., Micali, N., Nakatani, E., Turner, C. (2011). Children with very early onset obsessive-compulsive disorder: clinical features and treatment outcome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 52:12 (2011), pp 126112

The authors research question is if individuals with an early onset display greater severity and persistence of symptoms, and may be less responsive to treatment, than individuals with a late onset. The authors use a case study to as their research method to answer this question. I think this method is the best way to approach this research question, because they are dealing with a large group of people. To control biases, the authors used 365 young people and were taken to a specialist OCD clinic. Also, the authors did not only focus on those who had a very early onset of the disorder, they focused on those who had a late onset as well. Another way that bias was controlled was by examining group differences in treatment responsiveness; one group received cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) alone and the other group received CBT plus medication. Overall, it can be concluded that very early onset OCD may be related with different symptoms and comorbidities compared with late onset OCD, but the differences do not appear to impact on responsiveness to cognitive behavior therapy alone or

combined with medication. This study can be used to indicate the value of detecting and treating OCD in childhood. Nikolajsen, Kathrine Hesselberg; Nissen, Judith Becker; Thomsen, Per Hove. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. (2011) Vol. 65 Issue 4, p244-250.

The research question that the authors look at is the relation between symptom dimensions, pattern of comorbidity and family disposition, in children and adolescents with OCD. The research method that the authors use to answer this question is a retrospective study of children and adolescents diagnosed with OCD in the period of 1998 to 2004, at the Psychiatric Hospital for Children and Adolescents in Denmark. I dont think this is the best way to approach this research question because the authors only used children from one very specific location. Also, it does not mention the ages and race of the children and adolescents. The authors did not really control bias. Since the information was only gathered from one specific place, the data that was examined only applies to children and adolescents from that place. This study examines symptom dimensions in children and adolescents in naturalistic settings. Scores on the symmetry dimension that is related to OCD and the scores on the aggressive dimension that is related to comorbidity are high. So it can be concluded that there is a relation between symptoms dimensions, pattern of comrbidity and family disposition in children and adolescents with OCD. However, these relations only apply to the children and adolescents from the same place where the study was done. Bolton, Derek; Williams, Tim; Perrin, Sean; Atkinson, Linda; Gallop, Catherine; Waite, Polly; Salkovskis, Paul. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry. Dec2011, Vol. 52 Issue 12,

p1269-1278

The research question that these authors use is to evaluate effectiveness and optimal delivery of cognitive behavior therapy (OBT), emphasizing cognitive interventions. The research method that the author is using to answer this question is a case study of children and adolescents. I think this method is the best way to approach this research question because what the authors are trying to find out involves groups of children and adolescents. To control bias, the authors used random children and adolescents for the study; they did not choose these individuals from an specific hospital or location. Overall, it can be concluded that the findings of the study demonstrate the benefits of CBT emphasizing intervention for children and adolescents with OCD. This also suggests that relatively lower therapist intensity delivery with use of therapist-guided workbooks is an efficient mode of delivery.