Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Childhood and Its Treatment with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder commonly experienced by adults and characterized by anxiety inducing, repetitive and annoying thoughts, ideas, impulses, compulsive and ritual behaviors that significantly impair the daily functionality of the suffering individual. OCD is also experienced among children at a significant level and its effects on the psychological state of individuals may be sustained in the further stages of their lives. The aim of this review study is to investigate the prevalence, diagnostic criteria and the causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the particular stage of childhood. Addressing the treatment methods for OCD in childhood is also aimed through investigation of the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which is commonly used in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder as a technique that proved to be effective after experimental researches. The limited number of researches on the treatment of OCD in childhood with CBT brings about the necessity to conduct more researches on this topic. Even though CBT’s cognition-oriented implementation may give the impression that its employment on children with incomplete cognitive development may not yield the desired effect, adaptation of the techniques to children and their implementation with entertaining activities can increase the effectiveness of CBT during the treatment of OCD in childhood.