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Dissociative symptoms in obsessive-compulsive dimensions
H J Grabe1, F Goldschmidt, L Lehmkuhl
1Department of Psychiatry, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Klinikum der Hansestadt Stralsund, Germany.
Psychopathology
|November 27, 1999
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) dimensions like checking and symmetry are linked to dissociative symptoms. Other OCD symptoms, such as washing or counting, showed no association with dissociation.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and dissociation are frequently co-occurring conditions.
- Previous research indicates a link between these two conditions, but a precise phenomenological association requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To precisely evaluate the phenomenological association between specific obsessive-compulsive and dissociative symptoms.
- To determine which dimensions of OCD correlate with dissociative symptomatology.
Main Methods:
- Seventy patients diagnosed with OCD (DSM-IV) were assessed.
- The Hamburg Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (HZI) and the Dissociation Experience Scale were utilized.
- Correlation and discriminant analyses were performed to analyze the data.
Main Results:
- The 'Checking' and 'Symmetry and Ordering' dimensions of OCD showed a significant relationship with dissociative symptomatology.
- No significant association was found between dissociative symptoms and the OCD dimensions of 'Washing and Cleaning', 'Counting and Touching', or 'Aggressive Impulses and Fantasies'.
- HZI dimensions effectively discriminated between patients with high and low levels of dissociative symptomatology.
Conclusions:
- Specific OCD symptom dimensions, particularly 'Checking' and 'Symmetry and Ordering', are phenomenologically associated with dissociative symptoms.
- These findings suggest distinct pathways or underlying mechanisms for different OCD symptom clusters in relation to dissociation.
- The results have implications for understanding the psychodynamic and therapeutic approaches for patients with comorbid OCD and dissociation.