Preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of concurrent exposure and response prevention for OCD and prolonged exposure for PTSD

Abstract

Several case studies describe utilizing combined approaches to treating individuals with co-occurring obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet empirical support for concurrent approaches is lacking. Further, no study has described a combined exposure and response prevention (ERP) and prolonged exposure (PE) approach despite theoretical and implementation similarities. Given the noted challenges in treating co-occurring OCD and PTSD, particularly in cases of dynamic comorbidity, the current study sought to provide empirical support for concurrent ERP + PE in a small sample of individuals diagnosed with co-occurring OCD and PTSD. Retrospective data was analyzed from eight patients (87.5% dynamic comorbidity) who underwent concurrent ERP + PE in a behavioral health hospital system. Effectiveness of ERP + PE was comparable to previous research on the separate treatments; patients experienced an average reduction in Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale-Self-Report scores of 11.75 and PTSD Checklist scores of 22.50, effect sizes of 1.65 and 1.44, respectively. Broadly, these preliminary findings suggest that a concurrent approach to treating co-occurring OCD and PTSD is effective even with dynamic comorbidity and that concurrent ERP + PE, specifically, yields promising treatment outcomes. The current study provides a foundation for future exploration of other treatment types and approaches. Replication of findings in larger, prospective samples is needed.