Pilot Trial of Cognitive and Behavioral Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding Compared to Wait List Control

Cognitive and Behavioral Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding

This study developed and tested a specialized cognitive and behavioral treatment for the symptoms of hoarding disorder, including excessive acquiring, difficulty discarding items, and extensive clutter in the home.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Treatment

Detailed Description

Compulsive hoarding is characterized by excessive acquisition of possessions, difficulty discarding possessions, and excessive clutter. This condition is resistant to standard pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions that have proven effective in treating other obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a specialized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) designed for treating hoarding symptoms.

This study consists of three phases. In Phase 1, pilot data from previous studies were examined to develop an intervention suitable for use in a waitlist trial. In Phase 2, pilot study information were used to develop and test a treatment manual for compulsive hoarding. During this phase, treatment was applied flexibly to allow for variations in treatment duration and choice of techniques. During Phase 3, participants were randomly assigned to 26 weekly sessions of CBT or to a 12-week wait-list control, followed by active treatment for a fixed duration of 26 sessions. Therapist adherence and competence were assessed through audiotaped therapy sessions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 52
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • Hartford, Connecticut, United States, 06106
      • Hartford Hospital, Institute of Living
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
      • BostonUCRC

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion criteria:

• Display at least moderately severe hoarding symptoms
• Must live within 45 minutes of Boston, MA or Hartford, CT

Exclusion criteria:

• Ten or more sessions of cognitive behavior therapy for hoarding
• Concurrent psychotherapy or medications
• Suicidal, psychotic, or other psychiatric symptoms requiring hospitalization
• Compulsive buying symptoms that are part of a manic phase of bipolar disorder
• Mental retardation, dementia, brain damage, or other cognitive dysfunction that would interfere with the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: cognitive behavior therapy for hoarding disorder; Cognitive behavior therapy included 26 sessions of motivational enhancements; skills training for sorting, organizing and problem solving; direct practice not acquiring new items and discarding possessions to remove clutter and organize possessions; cognitive therapy to evaluate beliefs about possessions; and relapse prevention skills.	Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Wait list control; Participants waited to receive treatment for 12 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Saving Inventory-Revised	Self-report questionnaire of hoarding severity; total score range = 0 to 92; higher values indicate more symptoms	change from baseline to week 12; change from baseline to week 26

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hoarding Rating Scale	Interviewer measure with 5 questions to assess hoarding severity; total score range = 0 to 40; higher values indicate more symptoms	change from baseline to week 12; change from baseline to week 26

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gail Steketee, Boston University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Click here for more information about compulsive hoarding.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): September 1, 2003
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): December 1, 2006
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): July 9, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 19, 2003
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 20, 2003
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): November 21, 2003

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): January 21, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2020
• Last Verified: January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Hoarding Disorder
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: R21MH068539 (NIH); DATR A2-AIA

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data have been shared with investigators working on hoarding relevant projects such as assessment of hoarding and meta-analyses of treatment outcome for hoarding disorder. Sharing of de-identified data will be considered upon request.