POTS team including March et al (2014)

Question 1

What was the aim?

Answer 1

To see if CBT on its own was more or less effective than a drug treatment or if it combined is more effective in treating young people with OCD

Question 2

What kind of sample was it?

Answer 2

Volunteer

Question 3

Who was screened in?

Answer 3

• Those scoring 16 or more on the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS)
• Those not comorbid for other disorders

Question 4

What were the conditions used?

Answer 4

• Drugs only
• Placebo pill only
• CBT only
• CBT and Drugs

Question 5

How long did the study last?

Answer 5

12 weeks

Question 6

What were the results?

Answer 6

• All conditions showed improvements after 12 weeks measured on the CY-BOCS
• 39.3% of those with only CBT entered remission
• 21.4% of those with drugs only entered remissio
• 53.6% in combined treatment entered remission

Question 7

What was the conclusion?

Answer 7

• CBT has highest improvement rate so should be first treatment option for OCD
• Adding drugs shows a minimal effect but can compensate for less effective therapies

Question 8

What are two strengths of the study?

Answer 8

• Double blind procedure so no researcher bias which increases validity
• Standardised procedure was used, e.g., drug dose increased was guided by a strict schedule which allows for replications, increasing reliability

Question 9

What are two limitations of the study?

Answer 9

• There was deception in the placebo group of participants as they didn’t get treatment they needed which goes against ethical guidelines
• Generalisability limited as the study was only done on children