What Are You Looking for? Psychometric and Experimental Analyses of Reassurance Seeking in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Concordia University, Montreal

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Treatments: Other: Cognitive-behavioural therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02909660

30006114

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluates the efficacy and acceptability of two cognitive-behavioural interventions for reassurance seeking behaviour in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a family accommodation reduction protocol vs. a novel support-seeking protocol. Half of participants will be randomly assigned to participate in the support-seeking intervention, whereas the other half will participate in the family accommodation reduction intervention.

Full description

An existing family accommodation reduction intervention to reduce reassurance seeking behaviour in OCD (which represents treatment as usual, or TAU) is being compared to a novel support-seeking intervention to determine which is more efficacious and acceptable to participants.

The TAU protocol asks participants to make an agreement with their significant others to withhold reassurance when it is sought. It is believed that this behaviourally-based intervention encourages extinction of reassurance seeking over time by eliminating reinforcement of the behaviour by significant others.

The support-seeking intervention asks participants to move towards adaptively seeking support from a significant other to manage anxiety or distress rather than seeking reassurance. Significant others are taught to provide support rather than reassurance. It is believed that support-seeking may reduce reassurance seeking behaviour because it helps participants manage the anxiety or distress that underlies the requests for reassurance without interfering with disconfirmatory learning.

Enrollment: 7 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of OCD
• Engaging in reassurance seeking more than once a day about the same thing
• Willingness to allow the experimenter to contact a significant other from whom the participant seeks reassurance regularly
• Ability to read, write, and communicate in English

Exclusion criteria

• Current suicidal ideation/intent
• Current substance abuse
• Psychosis
• Diagnosis of bipolar disorder (I or II)
• If participants are on medication they must be on a stable dose (i.e., have maintained a consistent dose for at least three months) and agree not to change their medication regimen for the duration of the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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7 participants in 2 patient groups

Support-seeking intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Cognitive-behavioural therapy intervention that guides participants to seek support rather than reassurance; participants' significant others are asked to provide support rather than reassurance.

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive-behavioural therapy

Family accommodation reduction intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

Cognitive-behavioural therapy intervention that guides participants' significant others to withhold reassurance when it is requested; participants are asked to refrain from seeking reassurance.

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive-behavioural therapy