Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Childhood rituals: normal development or obsessive-compulsive symptoms?

H L Leonard1, E L Goldberger, J L Rapoport

  • 1Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|January 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary

Children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) showed more pronounced early ritualistic behaviors than controls. These rituals may represent early signs of preclinical OCD, warranting further investigation.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Hippocampal volume change relates to clinical outcome in childhood-onset schizophrenia.

Psychological medicine·2015
Same author

Clinical utility of neuronal cells directly converted from fibroblasts of patients for neuropsychiatric disorders: studies of lysosomal storage diseases and channelopathy.

Current molecular medicine·2015
Same author

Common polygenic variation and risk for childhood-onset schizophrenia.

Molecular psychiatry·2014
Same author

A Developmental Functional MRI Study of Prefrontal Activation during Performance of a Go-No-Go Task.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2013
Same author

High rate of disease-related copy number variations in childhood onset schizophrenia.

Molecular psychiatry·2013
Same author

Rare mutations in N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

Translational psychiatry·2012

Area of Science:

  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

  • Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms are sometimes considered extreme versions of typical childhood rituals.
  • However, differences in timing, content, and severity challenge a simple continuum model.
  • This study investigates the relationship between early developmental rituals and OCD in children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically compare early developmental rituals and superstitions in children with severe primary OCD and healthy controls.
  • To explore whether specific ritualistic behaviors in childhood are precursors to OCD.
  • To differentiate between normal developmental rituals and potential early manifestations of OCD.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic comparison was conducted between 38 children with severe primary OCD and 22 matched normal controls.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Parents were interviewed regarding their child's early developmental rituals and current superstitions.
  • Children were directly questioned about their superstitious beliefs.

    • Main Results:

    • Children with OCD did not significantly differ from controls in the number or type of superstitions reported.
    • Parents of children with OCD reported significantly more "marked" patterns of early ritualistic behavior compared to parents of controls.
    • Excluding behaviors directly resembling primary OCD symptoms, other childhood rituals did not differ between groups.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings suggest that "marked" early ritualistic behaviors, distinct from typical superstitions, may be early manifestations of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
    • Further prospective studies are necessary to confirm if these behaviors are preclinical OCD indicators or a result of parental recall bias.
    • This research highlights the potential importance of early ritualistic behaviors in understanding the developmental trajectory of OCD.