20-minute web tool could ease OCD caregiver burden
NCT ID NCT07158801
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests a 20-25 minute online program called Project EMPOWER-OCD for caregivers of people with OCD. The program teaches caregivers how to reduce accommodating behaviors that can accidentally make OCD worse. Researchers want to see if it lowers caregiver stress and improves OCD symptoms in the person they care for. The trial enrolls 110 English-speaking caregivers who live with and care for someone with OCD.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Project EMPOWER-OCD (a web-based single-session behavioral intervention)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a quick, low-cost way to ease caregiver distress and reduce behaviors that may worsen OCD symptoms.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage trial with only 110 participants, so results may not apply to all caregivers. The intervention is brief and may not be enough for severe cases.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 110 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2025
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * be a caregiver for at least one individual with OCD, defined as living in the same household and providing daily care * be 18 years old or older * the individual they are caring for have clinically significant OCD symptoms, indicated by a score a 16 or above on the self-reported Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale - Parent Report (CY-BOCS-PR) * speak, read, and write English * not be in concurrent family-based CBT treatment for the patient's OCD. Exclusion Criteria: * does not speak English * younger than 18 years old * participation in concurrent family-based CBT treatment for the patient's OCD.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Boston University
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
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