SPACE voor OCS

SPACE stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. This treatment method is intended for parents of children and youth with anxiety and compulsive complaints. SPACE is based on working towards supportive parenting, to treat children through parents.

SPACE voor OCS

Background 

Unfortunately, the treatment that is usually given to children with an obsessive-compulsive disorder, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure, does not work for all children and young people with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The SPACE treatment does not focus on the individual treatment of the child, but on behavioral change in parents by addressing family adjustment and working from supportive parenting. Family adjustment is everything that parents and siblings do as a result of the child's anxiety or compulsive symptoms and occurs in 95% of families with a child with anxiety or compulsion. 

In the SPACE study, we want to investigate whether the SPACE treatment contributes to reducing family adjustment in parents and in anxiety and compulsive symptoms in children. 

Participants 

When can families participate in the study? 

  • The child has an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • The child is between 7 and 18 years old
  • The child has previously not benefited sufficiently from individual psychotherapy or cannot/does not want to participate in therapy due to the severity of the fear or compulsion
  • Parents show high levels of family adaptation 

A referral to Levvel is required to participate in the study. On the basis of an intake with Levvel's Compulsion, Anxiety and Tics (DAT) expertise team, it is determined whether participation in the study is appropriate. 

Design of the study 

Within the study, parents will follow 12 individual treatment sessions of SPACE for 3 months. The child does not participate in the treatment. In total, the study will last 6 months. During this period, questionnaires and interviews will be conducted at 6 times. In addition, parents and child complete a short questionnaire via an app every week throughout the study, which closely monitors family adjustment and compulsive symptoms. 

Participation 

More information about the application procedure can be found on the page of the study: https://www.levvel-up.nl/space. You can register until December 2024.