Symptom Dimensions in Two Samples of Africans Americans with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Cultural Psychiatry

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a significant global health concern.
• Limited research exists on OCD symptom dimensions within African American populations.
• Generalizability of existing OCD research findings to diverse ethnic groups remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the phenomenology and symptom dimensions of OCD in adult African Americans.
• To compare OCD symptom frequencies in African Americans with existing national data.
• To identify potential cultural variations in OCD presentation.

Main Methods:

• Recruited a sample of 74 African American adults diagnosed with OCD at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Administered the Yale Brown Obsessive-Compulsive checklist (YBOCS) to assess symptoms.
• Conducted a principal components analysis on YBOCS data and compared findings with the National Survey of American Life.

Main Results:

• A six-component symptom structure was identified: Contamination & Washing, Hoarding, Sexual Obsessions & Reassurance, Aggression & Mental Compulsions, Symmetry & Perfectionism, and Doubt & Checking.
• These factors explained 59.1% of the variance and were largely consistent with previous studies in predominantly White samples.
• African Americans with OCD reported higher rates of contamination symptoms and concerns about animals compared to European Americans.

Conclusions:

• OCD symptom dimensions appear broadly similar across racial groups, but cultural differences exist.
• Observed variations in contamination and animal-related obsessions suggest culturally influenced presentations of OCD.
• Further research is needed to understand the implications of these cultural differences for OCD treatment and diagnosis.