0693 A Characterization of Social Rhythms in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Recent evidence has shown that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked to shifts in biologically driven sleep timing, indicating the role of biological rhythms within the disorder. Specifically, initial evidence suggests that biological disruptions in OCD may play a role in symptom severity and OCD treatment efficacy. Germane to the study of biological rhythmicity is the consideration of social rhythms within OCD. Disruptions in social rhythmicity are found in other psychological disorders associated with biological rhythm vulnerabilities (i.e., Bipolar Spectrum Disorder, Depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.) Given the shared features and high rates of comorbidity between OCD and these disorders, it is reasonable that social rhythm disruptions would be found in OCD as well. As no research to date has examined this, we sought to examine the regularity and distribution of social rhythm in individuals with clinically significant obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Further, we examined the role of affect and symptom severity across OCD subtypes. Methods 19 adults meeting criteria for a primary diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder completed the Social Rhythm Metric at home for a period of 7 days. As part of a larger study, participants completed measures of sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and subtype (Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory) following diagnosis. Results We found the mean social rhythmicity in those with an OCD diagnosis to be 3.05 (SD=1.14.), similar to means found previously in other psychiatric disorders such as Bipolar Spectrum Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Individuals with OCD who also reported delayed bedtimes were shown to have significantly lower social rhythmicity (p=.005) than those without delayed bedtimes. Additionally, we found that social rhythmicity correlated similarly across OCD subtypes and was not strongly correlated with negative affect. Conclusion In the current study, we provide a preliminary characterization of social rhythmicity in those with OCD. Results suggest that social rhythm may play a role in OCD similar to bipolar disorder and further study is warranted. Overall, this study contributes to burgeoning research into the association between biological rhythms and OCD. Support (If Any)