"Therapy without a therapist?" The experiences of adolescents and their parents of online behavioural activation for depression with and without therapist support.

Behavioural Activation (BA) is an established treatment for adults with depression, and research on BA for adolescents is promising. However, there is a knowledge gap in terms of the experiences of adolescents and their parents BA for depression delivered online. Furthermore, there have been no previous studies conducted on the experiences of respondents with regard to the role of the therapist in online treatment. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to explore the experiences of online BA among adolescents with depression and how their parents experience supporting their adolescent through treatment. Second, the experiences of having online therapy with or without a therapist were explored. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight adolescents and nine parents (n = 17) who completed guided or self-guided online BA. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify aspects of the experience of treatment that were important to adolescents and their parents. Two main themes were generated: (1) opportunities or barriers to engaging in treatment and (2) parental involvement is valued and welcomed. This study contributes valuable information regarding user experiences of BA treatment, the importance of therapist support and parental involvement in treating adolescents with depression.Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04117789, Date of registration: 07 October 2019.

Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of a therapist-supported online remote behavioural intervention for tics in children and adolescents: extended 12- and 18-month follow-up of a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the long-term effectiveness of behavioural therapy for tics. We aimed to assess the long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of online therapist-supported exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy for tics 12 and 18 months after treatment initiation. METHODS: ORBIT (online remote behavioural intervention for tics) was a two-arm (1:1 ratio), superiority, single-blind, multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing online ERP for tics with online psychoeducation. The trial was conducted across two Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in England. Participants were recruited from these two sites, across other clinics in England, or by self-referral. This study was a naturalistic follow-up of participants at 12- and 18-month postrandomisation. Participants were permitted to use alternative treatments recommended by their clinician. The key outcome was the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale Total Tic Severity Score (YGTSS-TTSS). A full economic evaluation was conducted. Registrations are ISRCTN (ISRCTN70758207); ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03483493). RESULTS: Two hundred and twenty-four participants were enrolled: 112 to ERP and 112 to psychoeducation. The sample was predominately male (177; 79%) and of white ethnicity (195; 87%). The ERP intervention reduced baseline YGTSS-TTSS by 2.64 points (95% CI: -4.48 to -0.79) with an effect size of -0.36 (95% CI: -0.61 to -0.11) after 12 months and by 2.01 points (95% CI: -3.86 to -0.15) with an effect size of -0.27 (95% CI -0.52 to -0.02) after 18 months, compared with psychoeducation. Very few participants (<10%) started new tic treatment during follow-up. The cost difference in ERP compared with psychoeducation was £304.94 (-139.41 to 749.29). At 18 months, the cost per QALY gained was £16,708 for ERP compared with psychoeducation. CONCLUSIONS: Remotely delivered online ERP is a clinical and cost-effective intervention with durable benefits extending for up to 18 months. This represents an efficient public mental health approach to increase access to behavioural therapy and improve outcomes for tics.

An online self-guided cognitive intervention for unwanted intrusive thoughts about harming infants in new parents: initial randomised controlled trial with mediation analysis.

Approximately one-fifth of new parents struggle with unwanted intrusive thoughts (UITs) about intentionally harming their child. This study evaluated the initial efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of a novel online self-guided cognitive intervention for new parents with distressing UITs. Self-recruited parents (N = 43, 93% female, age 23-43 years) of children 0-3 years reporting daily distressing and impairing UITs were randomized to the 8-week self-guided online cognitive intervention or to waiting-list. The primary outcome was change on the Parental Thoughts and Behaviour Checklist (PTBC) from baseline to week 8 (post-intervention). The PTBC and negative appraisals (mediator) were assessed at baseline, weekly, post-intervention and at the 1-month follow-up. Results showed that the intervention led to statistically significant reductions in distress and impairment associated with UITs at post-intervention (controlled between-group d = 0.99, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.43), which were maintained at the 1-month follow-up (controlled between-group d = 0.90, 95% CI 0.41 to 1.39). The intervention was deemed to be feasible and acceptable by the participants. Change in negative appraisals mediated reductions in UITs but the model was sensitive to mediator-outcome confounders. We conclude that this novel online self-guided cognitive intervention can potentially reduce the distress and impairment associated with UITs in new parents. Large-scale trials are warranted.Abbreviations: UITs: Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts PTBC: Parental Thoughts and Behaviour Checklist.

The Cost of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Swedish Youth.

The economic impact of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) on society is unknown. We compared a wide range of individual-level cost data of children 7-17 years with OCD (n = 152) with a control group from the general population in Sweden (n = 768). The total annual cost in the OCD group was M = 11941€ (95%CI [9915-13966]), compared to the control group M = 6380 € (95%CI [5461-7299]), corresponding to an estimated marginal mean cost of OCD of 5560 € per person and year (z = 4.99, p < .001). OCD was associated with significantly higher healthcare costs, parental absence from work and school productivity loss. OCD symptom severity was positively associated with higher costs. The total societal burden of pediatric OCD in Sweden was estimated to be 94.3 € million per year (95%CI [56.9-131.8]). These results have important implications for policy makers and for the allocation of healthcare resources. Similar studies are needed in other countries in order to estimate the global cost of the disorder.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on tic symptoms in children and young people: a prospective cohort study.

To understand how children and young people with tic disorders were affected by COVID-19, we compared pre and during pandemic scores on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). Participants were young people (N = 112; male:78%; 9-17 years) randomised to the control arm of the "ORBIT-Trial" (ISRCTN70758207, ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT03483493). For this analysis, the control arm was split into two groups: one group was followed up to 12-months' post-randomisation before the pandemic started (pre-COVID group, n = 44); the other group was impacted by the pandemic at the 12-month follow-up (during-COVID group, n = 47). Mixed effects linear regression modelling was conducted to explore differences in YGTSS at 6- and 12-months post-randomisation. There were no significant differences in tic symptom or severity between participants who were assessed before and during COVID-19. This finding was not influenced by age, gender, symptoms of anxiety or autism spectrum disorder. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly impact existing tic symptoms.

A population-based family clustering study of tic-related obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) included a new "tic-related" specifier. However, strong evidence supporting tic-related OCD as a distinct subtype of OCD is lacking. This study investigated whether, at the population level, tic-related OCD has a stronger familial load than non-tic-related OCD. From a cohort of individuals born in Sweden between 1967 and 2007 (n = 4,085,367; 1257 with tic-related OCD and 20,975 with non-tic-related OCD), we identified all twins, full siblings, maternal and paternal half siblings, and cousins. Sex- and birth year-adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) were calculated to estimate the risk of OCD in relatives of individuals with OCD with and without comorbid tics, compared with relatives of unaffected individuals. We found that OCD is a familial disorder, regardless of comorbid tic disorder status. However, the risk of OCD in relatives of individuals with tic-related OCD was considerably greater than the risk of OCD in relatives of individuals with non-tic-related OCD (e.g., risk for full siblings: aHR = 10.63 [95% CI, 7.92-14.27] and aHR = 4.52 [95% CI, 4.06-5.02], respectively; p value for the difference < 0.0001). These differences remained when the groups were matched by age at first OCD diagnosis and after various sensitivity analyses. The observed familial patterns of OCD in relation to tics were not seen in relation to other neuropsychiatric comorbidities. Tic-related OCD is a particularly familial subtype of OCD. The results have important implications for ongoing gene-searching efforts.

Familial risk and heritability of intellectual disability: a population-based cohort study in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Intellectual disability (ID) aggregates in families, but factors affecting individual risk and heritability estimates remain unknown. METHODS: A population-based family cohort study of 4,165,785 individuals born 1973-2013 in Sweden, including 37,787 ID individuals and their relatives. The relative risks (RR) of ID with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were obtained from stratified Cox proportional-hazards models. Relatives of ID individuals were compared to relatives of unaffected individuals. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate heritability. RESULTS: Relatives of ID individuals were at increased risk of ID compared to individuals with unaffected relatives. The RR of ID among relatives increased proportionally to the degree of genetic relatedness with ID probands; 256.70(95% CI 161.30-408.53) for monozygotic twins, 16.47(13.32-20.38) for parents, 14.88(12.19-18.16) for children, 7.04(4.67-10.61) for dizygotic twins, 8.38(7.97-8.83) for full siblings, 4.56(4.02-5.16) for maternal, 2.90(2.49-3.37) for paternal half-siblings, 3.03(2.61-3.50) for nephews/nieces, 2.84(2.45-3.29) for uncles/aunts, and 2.04(1.91-2.20) for cousins. Lower RRs were observed for siblings of probands with chromosomal abnormalities (RR 5.53, 4.74-6.46) and more severe ID (mild RR 9.15, 8.55-9.78, moderate RR 8.13, 7.28-9.08, severe RR 6.80, 5.74-8.07, and profound RR 5.88, 4.52-7.65). Male sex of relative and maternal line of relationship with proband was related to higher risk (RR 1.33, 1.25-1.41 for brothers vs. sisters and RR 1.49, 1.34-1.68 for maternal vs. paternal half-siblings). ID was substantially heritable with 0.95(95% CI 0.93-0.98) of the variance in liability attributed to genetic influences. CONCLUSIONS: The risk estimates will benefit researchers, clinicians, families in understanding the risk of ID in the family and the whole population. The higher risk of ID related to male sex and maternal linage will be of value for planning and interpreting etiological studies in ID.

Operational Definitions of Treatment Response and Remission in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Capture Meaningful Improvements in Everyday Life.

INTRODUCTION: The operational definitions of treatment response, partial response, and remission in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are widely used in clinical trials and regular practice. However, the clinimetric sensitivity of these definitions, that is, whether they identify patients that experience meaningful changes in their everyday life, remains unexplored. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the clinimetric sensitivity of the operational definitions of treatment response, partial response, and remission in children and adults with OCD. METHODS: Pre- and post-treatment data from five clinical trials and three cohort studies of children and adults with OCD (n = 1,528; 55.3% children, 61.1% female) were pooled. We compared (1) responders, partial responders, and non-responders and (2) remitters and non-remitters on self-reported OCD symptoms, clinician-rated general functioning, and self-reported quality of life. Remission was also evaluated against post-treatment diagnostic interviews. RESULTS: Responders and remitters experienced large improvements across validators. Responders had greater improvements than partial responders and non-responders on self-reported OCD symptoms (Cohen's d 0.65-1.13), clinician-rated functioning (Cohen's d 0.53-1.03), and self-reported quality of life (Cohen's d 0.63-0.73). Few meaningful differences emerged between partial responders and non-responders. Remitters had better outcomes across most validators than non-remitters. Remission criteria corresponded well with absence of post-treatment diagnosis (sensitivity/specificity: 93%/83%). Using both the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Clinical Global Impression Scale yielded more conservative results and more robust changes across validators, compared to only using the Y-BOCS. CONCLUSIONS: The current definitions of treatment response and remission capture meaningful improvements in the everyday life of individuals with OCD, whereas the concept of partial response has dubious clinimetric sensitivity.

Validation of child-adapted short scales for measuring gastrointestinal-specific avoidance and anxiety.

AIM: To validate child-adapted shortened versions of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Behavioural Responses Questionnaire (IBS-BRQ; short scale denoted BRQ-C) and the Visceral Sensitivity Index (VSI; short scale denoted VSI-C) for children with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). METHODS: A child psychologist supervised by a child gastroenterologist was responsible for shortening the scales (BRQ-C, 11 items; and VSI-C, 7 items). Then, a sample of 89 children aged 8-12 years with FAPDs was used in the validation. Construct validity was assessed with correlations. Measures included gastrointestinal symptoms, quality of life, pain intensity and anxiety. Also, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, administration time and factor structure were assessed. RESULTS: Internal consistency for the BRQ-C and the VSI-C was α = 0.84 and α = 0.80, respectively. Correlations with related scales were similar between child-adapted scales and original scales, indicating construct validity equivalence. Correlations between short scales and original scales were high. Mean administration time was reduced by 47% (BRQ-C) and 42% (VSI-C), compared with original scales. Test-retest reliability was r = 0.72 for BRQ-C and r = 0.83 for VSI-C. BRQ-C had two factors (Avoidance and Bowel control). VSI-C had a unifactorial structure. CONCLUSION: The BRQ-C and the VSI-C were found to be time-saving, reliable and valid for children with FAPDs.

Childhood-onset type 1 diabetes and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with educational attainment: A population-based sibling-comparison study.

AIM: To examine the association of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with educational outcomes from compulsory school to university. METHODS: Using multiple Swedish nationwide registers, we followed up on 1,474,941 individuals born in Sweden from 1981-1995 to December 31, 2013. Associations of T1D and ADHD with achieving educational milestones (from compulsory school to university) and school performances were estimated using logistic and linear regression models and sibling comparison models. RESULTS: Compared to their peers, children with both T1D and ADHD were less likely to achieve any of the educational attainments, including completing compulsory school (adjusted OR [aOR] [95% CI]: 0.43 [0.26, 0.72]), be eligible to and finishing upper secondary school (0.26 [0.19, 0.36], 0.24 [0.17, 0.35], respectively), and starting university (0.38 [0.17, 0.90]). The odds of achieving these educational milestones were substantially lower in children with ADHD alone (aORs: 0.14-0.44), but were slightly worse or no differences in children with T1D alone (aORs: 0.86-1.08). All associations above remained similar in the sibling comparison models. CONCLUSION: Children and adolescents with both T1D and ADHD had long-term educational underachievement, with ADHD being the major contributor. Our findings suggest the importance of assessing ADHD in children with T1D and targeted support for minimising the education gap between the affected children and their peers.

Initial evaluation of a therapist-supported online cognitive therapy self-help for patients with taboo obsessions.

OBJECTIVES: The current study evaluated the feasibility of an internet-delivered cognitive therapy (I-CT) in a self-help format with minimal therapist support for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with primary taboo obsessions. Specifically, the aims were to investigate (1) whether participants were able to grasp and apply the internet-delivered cognitive framework to their own situation; (2) whether they had clinically meaningful reductions of OCD symptom severity; and (3) whether reduced negative appraisals (hypothesized mechanism of change in CT) preceded reductions in OCD symptom severity. METHOD: Nineteen OCD patients with primary taboo obsessions, recruited from an OCD clinic or self-referrals, received the I-CT intervention for 10 weeks. I-CT did not contain any systematic exposure or response prevention. RESULTS: Adherence and engagement with the intervention was high. Most participants (n = 13, 68%) understood and successfully applied the cognitive model to their own situation. Within-group analyses showed large reductions in OCD symptom severity at post-treatment (bootstrapped within group d = 1.67 [95% CI; 0.67 to 2.66]) measured with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. The gains were maintained at the 6-month follow-up. Post-hoc analyses revealed that the large reductions in OCD symptom severity were driven by the participants who understood the cognitive model. Reductions in negative appraisals predicted subsequent reductions in OCD symptom severity during treatment. CONCLUSION: It is possible to adapt a purely cognitive intervention to a digital guided self-help format and to achieve both cognitive change and meaningful symptom reduction. The results require confirmation in a randomized clinical trial.

Therapist-guided online metacognitive intervention for excessive worry: a randomized controlled trial with mediation analysis.

Previous studies have found an association between excessive worrying and negative beliefs about worry. It is unclear if change in these beliefs mediate worry reduction. This study aimed to examine (1) if a simplified online metacognitive intervention can reduce worry, (2) whether changes in negative beliefs about worry mediate changes in worry severity, and (3) moderated mediation, i.e., if the mediating effect is more pronounced in individuals with a high degree of negative beliefs about worry at baseline. Adult excessive worriers (N = 108) were randomized to 10-weeks of the online metacognitive intervention (MCI) aimed at reducing negative beliefs about worry, or to wait-list (WL). Outcomes, mediation, and moderated mediation were examined via growth curve modelling. Results indicated a significant reduction in the MCI group (d = 1.6). Reductions in negative beliefs about worry and depressive symptoms separately mediated changes in worry severity during the intervention, but in a multivariate test only the former remained significant. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the hypothesized mediation was robust to possible violations of mediator-outcome confounding. The moderated mediation hypothesis was not supported. The results from this randomized trial add to the growing literature suggesting that negative beliefs about worry play a key role in worry-related problems. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03393156.

A Two-to-Five Year Follow-Up of a Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Cohort.

Little is known about the long-term prognosis of children with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS). Out of the 46 eligible patients from the Karolinska PANS cohort, 34 consented to participate in a follow-up (median 3.3 years). Participants underwent a thorough clinical evaluation and were classified according to their clinical course. Resulting groups were compared on clinical characteristics and laboratory test results. We observed significant reductions in clinician-rated PANS symptom severity and improved general function. Two patients were classified as remitted, 20 as relapsing-remitting, and 12 as having a chronic-static/progressive course. The latter group had an earlier onset, greater impairment and received more pharmacological and psychological treatments. Although remission was rare, the majority of children with PANS were significantly improved over the follow-up period but a non-negligible minority of patients displayed a chronic-static/progressive course and required additional treatments. The proposed definitions of flare and clinical course may be useful in future clinical trials.

Poor glycaemic control is associated with increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood-onset type 1 diabetes: a population-based cohort study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes on the risk of subsequent neurodevelopmental disorders, and the role of glycaemic control in this association. We hypothesised that individuals with poor glycaemic control may be at a higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders compared with the general population, as well as compared with individuals with type 1 diabetes with adequate glycaemic control. METHODS: This Swedish population-based cohort study was conducted using data from health registers from 1973 to 2013. We identified 8430 patients with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (diagnosed before age 18 years) with a median age of diabetes onset of 9.6 (IQR 5.9-12.9) and 84,300 reference individuals from the general population, matched for sex, birth year and birth county. Cox models were used to estimate the effect of HbA1c on the risk of subsequent neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 5.6 years, 398 (4.7%) individuals with type 1 diabetes received a diagnosis of any neurodevelopmental disorder compared with 3066 (3.6%) in the general population, corresponding to an adjusted HR (HRadjusted) of 1.31 (95% CI 1.18, 1.46) after additionally adjusting for other psychiatric morbidity prior to inclusion, parental psychiatric morbidity and parental highest education level. The risk of any neurodevelopmental disorder increased with HbA1c levels and the highest risk was observed in patients with mean HbA1c >8.6% (>70 mmol/mol) (HRadjusted 1.90 [95% CI 1.51, 2.37]) compared with reference individuals without type 1 diabetes. In addition, when compared with patients with diabetes with HbA1c <7.5% (<58 mmol/mol), patients with HbA1c >8.6% (>70 mmol/mol) had the highest risk of any neurodevelopmental disorder (HRadjusted 3.71 [95% CI 2.75, 5.02]) and of specific neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD (HRadjusted 4.16 [95% CI 2.92, 5.94]), ASD (HRadjusted 2.84 [95% CI 1.52, 5.28]) and intellectual disability (HRadjusted 3.93 [95% CI 1.38, 11.22]). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Childhood-onset type 1 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, with the highest risk seen in individuals with poor glycaemic control. Routine neurodevelopmental follow-up visits should be considered in type 1 diabetes, especially in patients with poor glycaemic control.

Measuring clinical outcomes in children with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome: data from a 2-5 year follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear how to best measure the complex symptom presentation of pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS). METHODS: Well-characterized participants of a 2-5 year follow-up study (n = 34; 56% male) underwent clinical evaluations and completed scales assessing global symptom severity, functional impairment and specific psychiatric symptoms. We explored inter-correlations between the measures and used intraclass correlation coefficients to evaluate the agreement between clinician-, parent- and child ratings of the same constructs. RESULTS: Ratings on symptom-specific measures varied largely between participants. Agreement between informants was excellent on functional scales, fair-to-moderate on global severity scales and mixed on symptom-specific scales. Clinician-rated global and functional measures had stronger inter-correlations with parent- and child-rated functional measures than with symptom-specific measures. CONCLUSIONS: General instruments assessing global severity and functioning are well suited for the assessment and follow-up of PANS, but should be complemented by symptom-specific scales representative of core symptoms.

The developmental origins of hoarding disorder in adolescence: a longitudinal clinical interview study following an epidemiological survey.

Hoarding disorder (HD) is hypothesized to originate in childhood/adolescence but little is known about the presentation of hoarding symptoms in youth and their natural history. In this longitudinal study, we tracked and conducted in-depth psychiatric interviews with twins who participated in an epidemiological survey and screened positive on a measure of hoarding symptoms at age 15. Twins screening positive for clinically significant hoarding symptoms at age 15 (n = 42), their co-twins (n = 33), a group of screen negative twins (n = 49), and their parents underwent a clinical assessment a median of 3 years after the initial screening. The assessment included psychiatric screening, hoarding symptoms and cognitions, in-home or photographic assessment of clutter levels, parental accommodation and familial burden. None of the participants had significant levels of clutter at follow-up and thus did not meet strict criteria for HD. However, twins meeting partial criteria (i.e., DSM-5 criteria A and B) for HD (n = 28) had more psychiatric disorders and scored significantly higher on all measures of hoarding symptoms including researcher-rated levels of clutter in their homes, compared to twins who did not meet partial criteria for HD (n = 46). As currently defined in DSM-5, HD may be rare in young people. A non-negligible proportion of young people who were screen positive on hoarding symptoms at age 15 had substantial hoarding symptoms and other psychopathology at follow-up. Whether and how many of these individuals will develop full-blown HD is unknown but the results offer unique insights about the probable origins of HD in adolescence.

Long-term outcomes of internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for paediatric anxiety disorders: towards a stepped care model of health care delivery.

Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is emerging as a powerful tool to fill the gap between demand and availability of evidence-based treatment for paediatric anxiety disorders. However, it is still unclear how to best implement it in routine clinical care. 123 children (8-12 years) with anxiety disorders underwent a 12-week ICBT programme with limited therapist support. Participants were assessed 3- and 12-month post-ICBT (3MFU and 12MFU, respectively). Non-remitters who still fulfilled diagnostic criteria for their principal anxiety disorder at 3MFU were offered additional manualised "face-to-face" (F2F) CBT. The aim of the study was to emulate a stepped-care model of health care delivery, where the long-term treatment gains of ICBT as well as the potential benefit of proving addition treatment to non-remitters of ICBT were evaluated. Remitters of ICBT (n = 73) continued to improve throughout the study period (pre-ICBT to 12MFU; Cohen's d = 2.42). At 12MFU, 89% (n = 65) were free from their principal anxiety disorder. Of all the participants classed as non-remitters at 3MFU (n = 37), 48.6% (n = 18) accepted the offer to receive additional F2F CBT. These participants also improved with a large effect from pre-ICBT to 12MFU (Cohen's d = 2.27), with the largest effect occurring during F2F CBT. At 12MFU, 83% (n = 15) were free from their principal anxiety disorders. The majority of non-remitters declining additional F2F CBT (63.2%; n = 12) did so due to already receiving treatment at their local CAMHS, prior to 3MFU. The effects of ICBT for anxiety disorders are durable at least up to 1 year after the end of treatment. Patients who fail to fully benefit from ICBT improved further with additional F2F sessions at our clinic, suggesting that it may be feasible to implement ICBT within a stepped-care model of health care delivery.

Effect of an Internet-Delivered Stepped-Care Program vs In-Person Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: In most countries, young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder have limited access to specialist cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a first-line treatment. Objective: To investigate whether internet-delivered CBT implemented in a stepped-care model is noninferior to in-person CBT for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Design, Setting and Participants: A randomized clinical noninferiority trial conducted at 2 specialist child and adolescent mental health clinics in Sweden. Participants included 152 individuals aged 8 to 17 years with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Enrollment began in October 2017 and ended in May 2019. Follow-up ended in April 2020. Interventions: Participants randomized to the stepped-care group (n = 74) received internet-delivered CBT for 16 weeks. Nonresponders at the 3-month follow-up were then offered a course of traditional face-to-face treatment. Participants randomized to the control group (n = 78) immediately received in-person CBT for 16 weeks. Nonresponders at the 3-month follow-up received additional face-to-face treatment. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the masked assessor-rated Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) score at the 6-month follow-up. The scale includes 10 items rated from 0 (no symptoms) to 4 (extreme symptoms), yielding a total score range of 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater severity. Assessors were masked to treatment allocation at pretreatment, posttreatment, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up assessments. The predefined noninferiority margin was 4 points on the CY-BOCS. Results: Among the 152 randomized participants (mean age, 13.4 years; 94 [62%] females), 151 (99%) completed the trial. At the 3-month follow-up, 34 participants (46%) in the stepped-care group and 23 (30%) in the in-person CBT group were nonresponders. At the 6-month follow-up, the CY-BOCS score was 11.57 points in the stepped-care group vs 10.57 points in the face-to-face treatment group, corresponding to an estimated mean difference of 0.91 points ([1-sided 97.5% CI, -∞ to 3.28]; P for noninferiority = .02). Increased anxiety (30%-36%) and depressive symptoms (20%-28%) were the most frequently reported adverse events in both groups. There were 2 unrelated serious adverse events (1 in each group). Conclusions and Relevance: Among children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment with an internet-delivered CBT program followed by in-person CBT if necessary compared with in-person CBT alone resulted in a noninferior difference in symptoms at the 6-month follow-up. Further research is needed to understand the durability and generalizability of these findings. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03263546.

Effectiveness of Behaviour Therapy for Children and Adolescents with Tourette Syndrome and Chronic Tic Disorder in a Naturalistic Setting.

It is unclear if the results of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of behaviour therapy (BT) for Tourette syndrome (TS) and chronic tic disorder (CTD) can be generalised to naturalistic clinical settings and are durable long-term. In this naturalistic study, 74 young people with TS/CTD received BT at a specialist clinic. Data were collected at baseline, post-treatment, and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Measures included the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) and the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale (CGI-I), amongst others. Tic severity and tic-related impairment improved after treatment, with large within-group effect sizes. At post-treatment, 57% of the participants were classified as treatment responders according to the CGI-I. Tic severity and tic-related impairment improved further through the follow-up, with 75% treatment responders at the 12-month follow-up. BT is an effective and durable treatment for young people with TS/CTD in a naturalistic specialist clinical setting, with comparable effects to RCTs.

Validity and reliability of social anxiety disorder diagnoses in the Swedish National Patient Register.

BACKGROUND: Population-based administrative registers are often used for research purposes. However, their potential usefulness depends on the validity of the registered information. This study assessed the validity of the recorded codes for social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, in the Swedish National Patient Register (NPR). METHODS: The personal identification numbers of 300 randomly selected individuals with a diagnosis of SAD recorded in the NPR were obtained from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. The medical files of these individuals were then requested from clinics nationally. A total of 117 files were received and two independent raters reviewed each file to assess the presence or absence of SAD, according to the definition of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) and the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). When disagreements between the two raters were found, a third rater reviewed the file to establish a best estimate diagnosis. Positive predictive values (PPV) and agreement between the two initial raters (using Cohen's kappa) were calculated. Additionally, raters completed the Clinical Global Impression - Severity (CGI-S) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) rating scales for each file. Inter-rater agreement for the CGI-S and the GAF was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). RESULTS: After exclusion of files not containing sufficient information, 95 files were included in the analyses. Of these, 77 files (81.05%) were considered to be 'true positive' cases (PPV = 0.81, 95% confidence interval = 0.72-0.88). Inter-rater agreement regarding the presence or absence of SAD was substantial (κ = 0.72). CGI-S and GAF scores indicated that patients were in the moderate range of severity and functional impairment. Inter-rater agreement for the CGI-S and the GAF was moderate to good (ICC = 0.72 and ICC = 0.82, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The ICD-10 codes for SAD in the Swedish NPR are generally valid and reliable, but we recommend sensitivity analyses in future register-based studies to minimise the impact of potential diagnostic misclassification. Most patients were moderately severe and impaired, suggesting that results from register-based studies of SAD may be generalizable.