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Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder
J F Leckman1, D E Grice, J Boardman
1Child Study Center, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-7900, USA.
The American Journal of Psychiatry
|July 1, 1997
Summary
This study identified four core symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): checking, symmetry/ordering, cleanliness/washing, and hoarding. These findings help understand OCD
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) presents with diverse symptoms across cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains.
- Understanding the underlying structure of OCD symptoms is crucial for etiological and treatment research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the correlational relationships among the various symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- To identify distinct symptom dimensions within OCD.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed symptom checklist data from two independent patient groups (N=208 and N=98) using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.
- Employed principal-components factor analysis with varimax rotation and exploratory analyses.
Main Results:
- Identified four consistent factors across both datasets: checking, symmetry/ordering, cleanliness/washing, and hoarding.
- These four factors accounted for over 60% of the symptom variance in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Conclusions:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a heterogeneous condition with distinct symptom dimensions.
- The identified factors align with previous research and may aid future genetic, neurobiological, and treatment studies.