Successful treatment of childhood OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) is associated with an increase of quality of life in the long term. This was demonstrated by a new study, published by first author Sanne Jensen, the NordLOTS group and me as a … Continue reading Quality of life in youth with obsessive–compulsive disorder
In a recent study from our group, the long-term effect of internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) for youth with OCD was evaluated. A group of 13 to 17 year olds received therapist-guided ICBT. Surprisingly, when followed-up 3 and 12 months … Continue reading Internet CBT for youth with OCD: Effects not only maintained in the long-term but continue to improve
In a recent publication from our Swedish group together with colleagues from the UK and Australia, we summarize what we have learned from implementing internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) at three sites in Gothenburg, London and Brisbane. In this study … Continue reading Lessons learned from implementation of internet CBT in Sweden, UK and Australia
Our international team from London and Stockholm has recently published the youth version of the popular WSAS, which is a very well known and widely used measure of impairment, however, thus far only available for adults. The WSAS for youth … Continue reading A brief Measure of Impairment in Youth: The Work and Social Adjustment Scale – Youth and Parent Version (WSAS-Y/P)
Patient adherence is defined as the degree to which a patient follows a given health care intervention or medical advice. In medicine good adherence would be e.g. if a patient takes medication or follows dietary advice according to the prescription. … Continue reading The Internet Intervention Patient Adherence Scale for Guided Internet-Delivered Behavioral Interventions: Development and Psychometric Evaluation
I was gladly surprised to find the print copy of “Innovations in CBT for Childhood Anxiety, OCD, and PTSD: Improving Access and Outcomes” on my desk when I came back from my late summer holiday. Me and my colleagues Kristina Aspvall, David Mataix-Cols and Eva Serlachius wrote the chapter on new technologies for the delivery of CBT for pediatric OCD, including webcamera-supported approaches, internet-delivered CBT, apps and virtual reality (VR). In its entirety, this book is a real whopper of over 700 pages, and offers plenty of valuable information of the latest innovations for better access to CBT. You can … Continue reading New technologies to deliver CBT for kids with OCD
The Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) has for many years been a useful and widely appreciated tool to measure functional impairment in adults with various conditions. Now we present a youth and parent version of the WSAS, the WSAS-Y and WSAS-P. This is a project that Prof. David Mataix-Cols from KI and our Clinical Research Unit, dr Amita Jassi from the Maudsley Hospital in London, me and other coauthors from Stockholm and London have been working on together and a result of joint efforts from our London and Stockholm clinical research teams. You can access the first version of … Continue reading The Work and Social Adjustment Scale – Youth and Parent version (WSAS-Y/P): Preprint out now!
A recent review from the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK shows that self-help methods can be a good alternative for children with different mental health problems. In the light of several reports that point to increasing numbers of children with mental health problems, it appears obvious that children should be given the best possible treatment as early as possible. In addition, other studies underline that there are major benefits when targeting psychological problems early in life rather than later in aduldhood. However, when it comes to psychological treatments, such as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), there … Continue reading Self-help for childhood mental health problems holds promise of easy-access, affordable psychological help
Cambridge University Press just released a comprehensive book on new interventions for anxiety, OCD and PTSD, Edited by Lara J. Farrell, Griffith University, Queensland , Thomas H. Ollendick, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Peter Muris, Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands. Anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are amongst the most prevalent disorders in childhood and cause major suffering and impairment if not effectively diagnosed and treated. This book highlights advances in technology and neuroscience that improve the access and outcomes for young people suffering from anxiety disorders, OCD or PTSD. In Part II – OCD, you cand read a contribution of Kristina Aspvall, David … Continue reading Book release: “Innovations in CBT for Childhood Anxiety, OCD, and PTSD”
In a large, 3 year long-term follow up study by Johan Åhlén, Ata Ghaderi and me, we did not find any long-term effects of a school-based intervention aimed to prevent anxiety and depression symptoms. The study included 695 children 8–11 years old from 17 schools in Sweden. The kids were either randomized to the prevention intervention or a control condition. According to the attrition analyses, the effect (or lack thereof) may have been biased towards a null-result. The prevention intervention that was used in this study was a “universal” intervention, as all kids in the included schools and classes participated received the intervention compared to “targetet” … Continue reading New research: Large study does not find long-term effects of school-based prevention of anxiety and depression
Fabian Lenhard 