Radical Openness for Adolescents Pilot
Condition: Anorexia Nervosa; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Social Phobia; Depression, Anxiety
MeSH terms: Anorexia; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Anorexia Nervosa; Phobia, Social
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Early Phase 1

Summary: 
      Heightened performance monitoring and overcontrol (HPM/OC) is characterized by inflexibility,
      a need for control, perfectionism, anxious apprehension and high error monitoring. HPM/OC is
      a cross-diagnostic (transdiagnostic) characteristic occurring across multiple forms of
      psychiatric illness that emerge in adolescence, including anorexia nervosa (AN), obsessive
      compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety disorder. This study characterizes behavioral
      and neural HPM/OC in healthy adolescents and adolescents with disorders characterized by
      HPM/OC, including AN and related eating disorders and anxiety, depressive and obsessive
      compulsive disorders. We then examine feasibility of a novel treatment for HPM/OC in
      adolescents, examining recruitment feasibility, exploration of the mechanism of HPM/OC and
      examining whether treatment is able to target neural and behavioral HPM/OC.
    

Detailed description: 
      Eligible patient (n=30) and healthy (n=30) adolescents and young adults will attend a
      baseline session where they will undergo an ERP neural assessment and fill out
      questionnaires. 8 patient participants interested in participating in a 4 month free RO DBT
      therapy trial will participate in weekly individual and skills class sessions. At the end of
      this 4 months, they will complete a second follow-up session where they will undergo an event
      related potential (ERP) neural assessment and fill out questionnaires. 8 of the remaining 30
      patient participants who do not want to complete the free therapy trial will have the option
      to return for a second follow-up session where they will undergo an ERP neural assessment and
      fill out questionnaires while undergoing treatment as usual (outside of therapy trial).
    

Intervention name(s): Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Radically Open Dialectical Behavior therapy (RO DBT) is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy developed by Dr. Thomas Lynch for disorders of emotional overcontrol. RO DBT is a treatment indicated for patients across multiple psychiatric disorders, including diagnoses of chronic depression, treatment resistant anxiety disorders, anorexia nervosa, autism spectrum disorders, and avoidant, paranoid, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants were either in a healthy group that did not receive treatment but did complete a baseline assessment or in one of two clinical groups. The first clinical group completed a baseline assessment, received 4 months of Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT) treatment, then completed a follow-up assessment. The non-treatment clinical received no treatment (but could complete any other ongoing treatment as usual (TAU) treatment) and completed a baseline assessment and a subset also completed a follow-up assessment.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment