Efficacy of group cognitive-behavioral therapy in adolescents with obsessive compulsive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) for the treatment of adolescents with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods: This review was registered in PROSPERO under number CRD42020158475. Five databases (PubMed, Virtual Health Library, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO) were searched. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 studies were analyzed in the qualitative synthesis (i.e., systematic review) and eight in the quantitative synthesis (i.e., meta-analysis). For the latter, fixed-effect modeling was used to assess the primary outcome (i.e., OCD symptoms). Results: The main findings suggest that GCBT is effective in reducing the symptoms of OCD in adolescents (d = -1.32). However, these results must be interpreted with caution, since all of the included studies showed some bias in their design. Conclusions: GCBT is effective in reducing OCD symptoms in adolescents.