The effect of stress in the relationship between family accommodation and treatment response in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Grant number: 19/21536-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Camargo Batistuzzo
• Grantee: Marina Kairalla Garcia de Azevedo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e da Saúde. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common mental illness in children and adolescents, with prevalence of 1% to 2%. In this population, OCD lead to impairment of academic performance, social life and family conflicting. Conventional treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (RPE), and pharmacotherapy with the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Although treatments are effective in most cases, factors such as family accommodation (FA) contribute to a poor response and individuals with a poor insight tend to become refractory to treatment. Also, a higher level of stress can aggravate the symptoms. Therefore, the aim of this study will be to relate variables as stress level, gender and age, which may influence the relationship between FA and treatment response using mediation and moderation models. Knowledge of mediators and moderators is essential for choosing the most appropriate treatment for each patient. This study will use a collected sample from 83 young people with OCD, aged 7 to 17 years, who participated in a 3-month randomized clinical trial at the Institute of Psychiatry of the University of São Paulo Medical School Hospital das Clínicas Paulo (IPQ - FMUSP). The instruments used for the assessment included Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Scale (Y-BOCS), Family Accommodation Scale (FAS) and Children's Stress Scale (ESI).