DIGITAL COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Digital cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has emerged as a promising strategy to improve access to evidence-based treatment for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, its comparative efficacy relative to conventional interventions remains uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of digital CBT in children and adolescents with OCD. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were systematically searched from inception to July 2026 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing digital CBT with face-to-face CBT, waitlist, or treatment as usual. The primary outcome was Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) scores post-treatment and at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S), Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I), Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), Child Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (ChOCI-C/P), and Family Accommodation Scale (FAS). Random-effects meta-analyses were performed using mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Six RCTs involving 404 participants were included. Digital CBT showed no significant difference from comparator interventions in reducing CY-BOCS scores post-treatment (MD = −2.09, 95% CI −4.92 to 0.74), at 3 months (MD = 1.15, 95% CI −0.74 to 3.04), or at 6 months (MD = 0.01, 95% CI −1.58 to 1.60). Similarly, no significant differences were observed for CGI-S, CGI-I, CGAS, ChOCI-C, ChOCI-P, or FAS. Moderate-to-high heterogeneity was present for several outcomes; however, sensitivity analyses resolved heterogeneity in most secondary outcomes. Digital CBT demonstrated comparable clinical effectiveness to conventional interventions for pediatric OCD, supporting its role as an accessible alternative when face-to-face CBT is unavailable. Larger, high-quality trials are needed to determine the optimal digital delivery modalities and long-term effectiveness.