Moving beyond symptom subtypes: testing a common dimension of lifetime OCD symptoms

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts and ritualized behaviors, often aimed at reducing distress. OCD is heterogeneous in its presentation and many patients with OCD experience a variety of different symptoms throughout their course of illness. Efforts to understand symptom domains in OCD have typically identified three to five symptom domains, such as the domains of doubt/checking, contamination, superstitions/rituals, symmetry/hoarding, and taboo thoughts. Recent studies in the genetics of OCD have suggested a common OCD dimension may provide additional information above and beyond the previously identified symptom domains. Thus, we sought to test a hierarchical model of lifetime OCD symptoms and evaluate the utility of the inclusion of a common OCD dimension.

Participants included 999 individuals participating in the OCD Collaborative Genetics Study (OCGS) and an additional 2363 individuals participating in the OCD Genetic Association Study (OCGAS). We evaluated unidimensional, 5-factor, and hierarchical models of lifetime OCD symptom presentation using confirmatory factor analysis.

Results suggested that the hierarchical model best fit the data. Further evaluation of these models using a Bayesian testlet response model showed that lifetime presence of specific OCD symptoms was differentially associated with lifetime OCD severity. Moreover, symptoms associated with greater lifetime severity were generally reported less frequently than symptoms present at lower levels of lifetime severity. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.