This book examines the early development of obsessive-compulsive disorder (which now affects over one million children and adolescents) and describes two effective treatments: behavior modification and drug treatment with clomipramine.

Based on research from the National Institute of Mental Health, this book’s theoretical sections probe the frontiers of today’s scientific understanding of this disorder and present information applicable to all age groups. Firsthand accounts from patients provide a depth of detail and clinical richness that will be greatly appreciated by all clinicians treating children and adolescents who have this disorder.

Introduction. Diagnosis. Phenomenology and differential diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents. Cognitive assessment of obsessive-compulsive children. Behavioral assessment techniques for childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. Associated Measures. Neuropsychological testing of obsessive-compulsive adolescents. Psycholinguistic testing in obsessive-compulsive adolescents. Neurological examination. The Patients Speak. Like father, like son. Zach and his family. The children speak. Treatment. Behavioral treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder in childhood. Case study: cognitive-behavioral analysis and treatment of an adolescent with severe multiform obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Families and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Theory and Research. An epidemiological study of obsessive-compulsive disorder in adolescence. Rituals and releasers: an ethological model of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Childhood rituals and superstitions: developmental and cultural perspective. Obsessive-compulsive disorder: a religious perspective. Obsessive-compulsive disorders: is it basal ganglia dysfunction? Summary. Index.