Longitudinal changes in posttraumatic stress symptoms in trauma-exposed youth with and without OCD: Examining...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be associated with elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among trauma-exposed youth. However, it remains unclear to what extent this association varies based on resilience and trauma type (two factors reflecting protection and risk, respectively) over time. A prior study found that OCD was not significantly associated with longitudinal changes in PTSS among trauma-exposed youth. The present study represents a follow-up to that work by examining whether this association varies based on resilience and trauma type (interpersonal vs non-interpersonal) over time.

Participants were 1179 trauma-exposed youth ages 8-20 from the Texas Childhood Trauma Research Network who had complete PTSS data at baseline and the 1-, 6-, and 12-month assessments. Generalized estimating equations examined whether longitudinal changes in PTSS varied based on trauma type and resilience.

At baseline, expected PTSS were highest among youth with OCD and interpersonal trauma and was approximately 2.4 times as severe as among youth without OCD who reported solely non-interpersonal trauma (MR = 2.42, p < .001). PTSS remained highest in the OCD × Interpersonal Trauma profile across all four assessments. However, resilience did not significantly moderate the association between OCD and PTSS (p = .509).

Youth with co-occurring OCD and interpersonal trauma represent a clinically important subgroup with elevated PTSS. Resilience was associated with lower PTSS and slightly greater symptom improvement over time, but did not specifically buffer against the elevated PTSS associated with OCD.