Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Supportive Psychotherapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Somatoform Disorders

In brief

The purpose of this study is to learn more about two different types of psychotherapy to help individuals who have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). BDD is a severe, often chronic, and common disorder consisting of distressing or impairing preoccupation with perceived defects in one's physical appearance. Individuals with BDD have very poor psychosocial functioning and high rates of hospitalization and suicidality. Because BDD differs in important ways from other disorders, psychotherapies for other disorders are not adequate for BDD. Despite BDD's severity, there is no adequately tested psychosocial treatment (psychotherapy) of any type for this disorder. This study will compare the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Supportive Psychotherapy as well as predictors of improvement.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01453439

Run by

Massachusetts General Hospital

People needed

120

Starts

2011-08-01

Expected to finish

2017-06-07

Last updated by the study team

2020-07-15

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Outpatient men and women age 18 and older
• DSM-IV BDD or its delusional variant for at least 6 months
• BDD is the most problematic psychiatric disorder (in the patient's and clinician's opinion) and the primary reason for seeking treatment
• Score of 24 or higher on the BDD-Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale

You may not qualify if…

• Current clinically significant suicidality and/or score on the BDI-II suicide item (#9) > 1
• Any clinical features requiring a higher level of care
• Mental retardation or borderline intellectual functioning (estimated IQ < 80 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence) or dementia, brain damage, or other cognitive impairment that would interfere with ability to engage in CBT
• DSM-IV substance abuse or dependence within the past 3 months; or a positive urine drug screen for any illicit substances of abuse
• Current manic episode
• Psychotic disorder
• Borderline personality disorder
• Body image concerns accounted for by an eating disorder
• Previous treatment with > 10 sessions of CBT for BDD
• Subjects cannot be receiving any other psychotherapy or begin such treatment during the study
• Patients can be receiving psychotropic medication if they have taken a stable dose for at least two months before the study baseline assessment and the dose remains stable during the study.
• Presence of any behavior (e.g., violence) that would interfere with full cooperation with the protocol.

Where it is running

• Massachusetts General Hospital — Boston, Massachusetts, United States
• Rhode Island Hospital — Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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