Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (OCI-CV) in a Spanish community sample of children and adolescents

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Psychometrics
• Mental Health Assessment

Background:

• Growing need for validated instruments to assess pediatric obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS).
• The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (OCI-CV) is a recognized measure for OCS in various populations.
• Limited data on the OCI-CV's psychometric properties in Spanish community samples.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the factor structure and psychometric properties of the OCI-CV Spanish version.
• To evaluate the reliability and validity of the OCI-CV in a Spanish pediatric population.
• To explore potential age and gender differences in OCS assessment using the OCI-CV.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory factor analysis of the OCI-CV Spanish version with 914 children/adolescents (mean age 13.01).
• Assessment of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent/discriminant validity.
• Exploration of age and gender differences in OCS assessment.

Main Results:

• Factor analysis confirmed a six-factor structure similar to the original OCI-CV: Washing/Checking, Obsession, Ordering, Doubting, Neutralizing, and Hoarding.
• Strong internal consistency for the total score; moderate for subscales.
• Evidence of test-retest reliability and convergent/discriminant validity for the Spanish OCI-CV.

Conclusions:

• The Spanish OCI-CV is a psychometrically sound instrument for evaluating obsessions and compulsions in Spanish children and adolescents.
• The findings support the use of the OCI-CV for OCS assessment in this population.
• The study provides a validated tool for researchers and clinicians working with Spanish-speaking youth.