Sequencing CBT for Child Anxiety: CBT Plus Sertraline Versus Switch to Sertraline

Yale University

Status and phase: Terminated; Phase 2

Conditions: Anxiety Disorder of Adolescence

Treatments: Drug: Sertraline; Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01977729

1308012517

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine whether cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in combination with sertraline (SRT) is more effective than SRT alone in treating children and adolescents with anxiety disorders (after an initial 8 weeks of CBT).

Full description

This project proposes to conduct a pilot study to collect preliminary data on a 'personalized adaptive treatment' approach for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. All youth patients in this two site study will first receive CBT and all then will be re-assessed at mid-treatment (8 sessions). Patients who show a partial response or no response following 8 sessions of CBT will be randomized to either a switch to SRT alone or CBT augmentation with SRT.

Enrollment: 1 patient

Sex: All

Ages: 8 to 16 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• meet criteria for a primary Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) anxiety disorder of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SOP), and separation anxiety disorder (SAD) using the DSM-5 version of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule -Child and Parent Versions (ADIS-C/P)
• receive a mean score of 4 or greater on the ADIS-C/P Clinician Rating Scale of Severity (CSR)
• cease all other psychosocial treatment upon consultation with the clinic staff and the service provider
• not currently using any psychotropic medication other than a stable dose of stimulant medication treatment for comorbid ADHD. Youth who are on a stable dose of stimulant medication (i.e., a minimum of six months at the same dose) will be included so as not to limit generalizability.
• be between 8 and 16 years old
• have a negative pregnancy test, if they are menstruating girls. If participating in Phase II of the project (i.e., sertraline [SRT] vs. CBT + SRT) and they are sexually active, they must be using an appropriate method of birth control. Of additional note is that it is an allowable possibility to include children who have coexisting psychiatric diagnoses of lesser severity than the three target disorders including attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) while receiving stable doses of stimulant, obsessive compulsive, post-traumatic stress, oppositional defiant, and conduct disorders.

Exclusion criteria

• meet for primary diagnosis of any DSM-5 disorder other than GAD, SOP, and SAD
• have any of the following disorders (e.g., primary, secondary, tertiary) - Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Mental Retardation, Selective Mutism, Organic Mental Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Tourette's Disorder, Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders. Drug or alcohol abuse/dependence will also be exclusionary.
• report the presence of any active suicidal ideation or a past suicide attempt in the last 6 months. Adolescents with a history of non-lethal self-harm behaviors (e.g., cutting) will be allowed to enroll if they meet other criteria
• have an intellectual disability as reported by guardian. If IQ is questionable or has not been assessed, the Block Design and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) will be administered. If the youth receives an IQ subtest score < 6 on either one of these two subtests of the WISC-IV, a full scale IQ score (FSIQ) will be obtained. Children with FSIQ < 80 will be excluded
• be a victim of past or present undisclosed abuse requiring investigation or ongoing supervision by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.
• have an unstable medical condition or a medical condition that could be worsened by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as a bleeding disorder or an active seizure disorder
• be using concomitant non-psychiatric medications that could be unsafe for use with sertraline (anticoagulants, triptans for migraine treatment, dextromethorphan)
• have a history of nonresponse to two adequate trials of SSRIs or an adequate trial of CBT or have a history of intolerance or nonresponse to sertraline
• be girls who are pregnant or are sexually active and are not using an effective method of birth control.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1 participants in 2 patient groups

CBT with SRT

Experimental group

Description:

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)+SRT (Sertraline) will be scheduled at weeks 9-12, 14, 16, 18, 20 with telephone visits at weeks 15, 17, and 19. The same therapist as in Phase I will deliver CBT in Phase II, which will occur in conjunction with the psychiatrist visits. Phase II CBT will emphasize continued therapist prescribed in-session and out-of-session exposure tasks (developed with patient) and continued patient cognitive-affective processing of exposure sessions with therapist, with no instruction on new skills or therapeutic strategies. Therapists will be encouraged to discuss clinical status with patients, psychiatrists, and PIs to allow for treatment integration (e.g., psychiatrist could increase the dose of SRT, or not, depending on whether the patient Is making sufficient progress in CBT).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Switch to SRT alone

Experimental group

Description:

Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Sertraline is FDA approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder in adults. Sertraline is also approved for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder in children and adolescents. Pharmacotherapy visits will be scheduled at weeks 9-12, 14, 16, 18, 20 with phone visits at weeks 15, 17, and 19. The psychiatrist will meet for \~30 min. with the youth and parents. Efforts will be made to use the most effective and tolerated SRT dose.

Treatment:

Drug: Sertraline

Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy