Effectiveness of Intensive Virtual Treatment for Pediatric Anxiety and OCD

Background:

In light of the growing pediatric mental health crisis and long wait times to see an in-person therapist, a team of mental health leaders from the nationally recognized McLean Anxiety Mastery Program (MAMP) conducted research regarding the benefits of videoconferencing-based cognitive behavioral therapy (VCBT) for intensive treatment of pediatric anxiety and OCD.

Study Details and Results:

Ranging in age from 8 to 19 years, 130 patients with one or more anxiety disorders and/or OCD were enrolled in the study.  70 participants received in-person CBT treatment prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the other 60 participants received VCBT during the pandemic. Median length of treatment was 6 weeks. The treatment approach and average treatment length were the same across groups; the only difference was whether the treatment was administered virtually or in-person.

Results of the study demonstrate that there were no statistically significant differences in post-treatment child and caregiver reported anxiety or functional impairment observed between CBT and VCBT groups, while controlling for symptom severity at admission. This suggests that intensive virtual care is an effective treatment option for youth struggling with anxiety and OCD.

The Creation of InStride Health:

With a commitment to delivering the highest quality patient outcomes, InStride Health was founded to provide in-network therapy to children, teens, and young adults with anxiety and/or OCD. InStride Health treats all severity levels, with particular focus on those with moderate to severe conditions where anxiety and/or OCD are interfering with functioning and causing a cascade of additional problems including social isolation, school avoidance, physical manifestations and more. Leveraging a highly experienced and coordinated care team of child and adolescent psychiatrists, therapists, and coaches, InStride’s approach is different in that care is provided virtually when, where and how patients need it. Whether it is a text from an exposure coach before school or after a particularly tough between-session exposure in the community, treatment is much more than just a regularly scheduled session with a therapist. InStride patients and their families engage in a tailored virtual care journey that can include individual and family therapy, groups for kids and for parents/caregivers, skills coaching, dedicated parent groups and medication management if appropriate.

InStride Health has demonstrated clinically meaningful results of its collaborative care model. Among patients with initially elevated anxiety symptoms at baseline (GAD7>=8), 90% experienced a reduction in anxiety after two months of treatment.  On average, there was a 46% decrease in anxiety symptoms and this reduction was both statistically significant and characterized by a large effect size.* Similarly, 81% of these patients reported a clinically meaningful reduction of anxiety symptoms after four months of starting treatment.** Additionally, after 3 months of treatment, 82% of patients reported reduced functional impairment and symptom severity.*** Overall satisfaction with the program is high, with 100% of all graduates and 97% of caregivers likely to recommend InStride to a friend.

Clinical outcomes reported for program graduates from InStride inception thru 8/18/2023

*Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale -7

**Clinically meaningful reduction is defined by a change greater than or equal to the minimally clinically important difference (MCID of +/- 4 points)

***As measured by the OASIS-Y

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