Online Exposure Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Study

The overarching goal of this protocol is to investigate mechanisms that influence symptom outcomes of exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy for OCD. Mechanisms may include affective processes, learning factors, cognitive factors, or other constructs that could influence treatment outcomes. The study team will conduct this research within the context of an effective online treatment for OCD called OCD-NET. OCD-NET is bibliotherapy with coaching and its content is reflective of standard care for OCD.

Study Overview

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

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 63
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33146
      • University of Miami

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• English-speaking
• Located within the United States
• 18-90 years old
• Able to provide consent
• Current diagnosis of OCD as assessed by clinical interview

Exclusion Criteria:

• Adults unable to consent
• Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers)
• Participants currently located outside of the United States
• Prisoners
• Participants with hoarding as the primary OCD symptom
• Severe mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia, substance abuse); organic brain syndrome; or serious, current suicidal/homicidal ideation (based on phone screening or initial assessment)
• Concurrent enrollment in another psychotherapy treatment

• Participants taking psychotropic medication may be excluded if:

  • They have started a brand new psychotropic medication within the last 12 weeks
  • They have changed the dose of their psychotropic medication within the last 4 weeks
  • They anticipate that they cannot maintain the current dose of their psychotropic medication for the duration of the study
• Participants may be excluded if they have any cognitive or physical impairments that would interfere with their participation (e.g., significant head injury, cognitive disability, dementia).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: OCD-NET Group; Participants will receive the OCD-NET intervention for up to 12 months.

Behavioral: OCD-NET; OCD-NET is bibliotherapy with coaching and its content is reflective of standard care for OCD. OCD-NET is a self-paced intervention that participants complete entirely online with the support of an assigned individual therapist. Most participants complete this treatment in up to twelve weeks. On average, participants are expected to spend between one to five hours per week during the first half of treatment. In the second half of treatment when participants begin regular exposure and response prevention (ERP) exercises, participants are expected to spend about one hour per day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in OCD Symptoms Measured by Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Second Edition (YBOCS-II)	YBOCS-II scores range from 0-50, and higher scores indicate more severe illness	Baseline, up to 12 months (end of treatment)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Miami
• Investigators: Study Chair: Kiara Timpano, PhD, University of Miami; Principal Investigator: Amelia Dev, MS, University of Miami

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 23, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 8, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): July 23, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 17, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 17, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 24, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 19, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 13, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Personality Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Compulsive Personality Disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20240483

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No