A pilot study of computer-aided vicarious exposure for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OBJECTIVE

This study reports the use of an interactive computer program to instruct vicarious exposure and ritual prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

METHOD: Thirteen OCD volunteers and 10 non-OCD volunteers completed three 45-minute sessions at weekly intervals. Subjects with OCD completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Padua Inventory (PI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) 1 week prior to and 1 week after the three computer treatment sessions. Non-OCD subjects only completed these measures at baseline, allowing confirmation that they had no significant level of OCD symptomatology.

RESULTS

In the OCD subjects, scores fell significantly on the PI and BDI, and Y-BOCS scores fell non-significantly. Engagement in vicarious exposure with ritual prevention improved from sessions 1-3. Compared to the non-OCD participants, OCD subjects did less vicarious exposure in session 1 but not sessions 2 and 3. Performance of vicarious exposure by OCD subjects in session 1 correlated with pre-post improvement in PI and BDI scores.

CONCLUSIONS

The vicarious exposure program may have a role to play as an adjunct in behaviour therapy.