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A Trial of Mindfulness-Based Skills Training Groups for Parents of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-affected Youth

 
Family members' coping skills are an important negative prognostic predictor for children with OCD. This study examines how families manage this condition in their lives, and whether a mindfulness-based skills training program can help.

Overview

OCD-affected families who have participated in the group-based family cognitive-behaviour therapy program have expressed a desire for ongoing support. By placing parents in a mindfulness-based skills training program, we can see if they experience any change in their stress levels, feelings of parental effectiveness and relationships with family members.

We’ll examine whether the training helps increase the parents’ ability to tolerate distress in their child, which then reduces the family's accommodation of OCD. We will also measure the severity of OCD symptoms and the impact of the family dynamic in these children.

Study procedures

Participants will be placed in an eight-week lead-in waiting list period followed by entry into the Mindfulness-Based Skills Training Group. The group consists of eight weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each. At various points throughout the study, participants will measure parent, family and child functioning. We will then compare and analyze the measures taken before and after intervention and between groups.

Potential benefits

Results of this study could lead to a new approach in supporting parents of OCD-affected children and to helping manage pediatric OCD. We anticipate that participants will benefit from the opportunity to share experiences and discuss the effects of OCD on their family with other parents with OCD-affected youth. There may lead to a reduced impact of OCD on the life of the child.

SOURCE: A Trial of Mindfulness-Based Skills Training Groups for Parents of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-affected Youth ( )
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