Training Community Clinicians in Implementing CBT-ERP for Youth with OCD: A Pilot Study in Australian Community Mental Health Services.

This pilot study evaluated the outcomes associated with a training workshop in cognitive-behavioural therapy with exposure and response prevention (ERP) for youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) aimed at improving clinicians' capabilities and motivations. Questionnaires and role-plays were completed by 17 Australian clinicians working across community youth (i.e., child and adolescent) mental health services. Knowledge, beliefs, and confidence in using ERP, and adherence delivering it improved at post-training. At 6-month follow-up improvements in beliefs were not maintained, while competence delivering ERP improved. At pre-training, participants utilised ERP significantly less than they intended to. At follow-up, the proportion of time clinicians intended to dedicate to and self-reported time spent implementing ERP was unchanged relative to pre-training, and the intention-behaviour gap remained. Overall, training was associated with improvements in implementation capabilities, but the association with improvements in motivations and behaviour was less clear. Future research should explore the impact of implementation opportunities and develop strategies to support training.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing Interests: Given their position on the editorial board, M. L. McKenzie and L. J. Farrell were not involved in the peer-review of this article. J. I. Racz was a recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship for his postgraduate research studies. This study forms part of a larger project funded by Mindgardens Neuroscience Network (funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care). Neither the scholarship nor funding providers were involved in the: collection, analyses, and interpretation of data; writing; or submission process. L. J. Farrell is the author of the OCD Busters program [27] and receives consultancy fees for the delivery of training and supervision in relation to these materials. She receives royalties from Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, and Springer for published works and ongoing editorial work. The authors declare they have no other conflicts of interest. Informed Consent: Informed consent was obtained from all participants in this study.
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