Association Between Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Dimensions in Mothers and Psychopathology in Their Children.

Thiago Blanco-Vieira,Marcelo C Batistuzzo,Afonso Mazine Tiago Fumo,Maria Conceição Do Rosário,Marcelo Queiroz Hoexter,Eurípedes C Miguel,Pedro Alvarenga,Natalia Szejko

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.674261

Abstract

Background: The non-clinical presentation of obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) in women may impact not only their daily lives and well-being but also increase the risk for emotional and behavioral problems in their children. This study aims to investigate the OCS dimension distribution in a large sample of mothers from a cohort of school age children and the association between these OCS dimensions with their own psychopathology, and with the presence of OCS and other psychopathology in their children.Method: Our final sample consisted of 2,511 mother-children dyads recruited from the elementary schools of two large cities. Throughout multiple regression analysis, we examined the correlations between demographic and clinical variables of mothers assessed by the Mini International Psychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale-Short Version (DY-BOCS-SV) with children's psychopathology status reported by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).Results: The overall prevalence of mothers who reported experiencing at least one OCS was 40% (N = 1,004). “Aggression/violence” was the most frequent symptom dimension (32.2%), followed by the “symmetry/ordering” (16.4%) and the “sexual/religious” dimensions (13.8%). There was a significant correlation between the presence of OCS and maternal psychopathology in general (p < 0.001, r = 0.397). Not only the presence but also the severity of the mother's OCS were strongly correlated to the total (p < 0.001), internalizing (p < 0.001), externalizing (p < 0.001), and OCS subscale scores (p < 0.001) on the CBCL.Conclusion: OCS dimensions are highly prevalent in women. Presence and severity of maternal OCS are related to children's psychopathology and behavioral problems.

Highlights

The lifetime prevalence of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in the general population is estimated to be around 1–2% [1]
Throughout multiple regression analysis, we examined the correlations between demographic and clinical variables of mothers assessed by the Mini International Psychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale-Short Version (DY-BOCS-SV) with children’s psychopathology status reported by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)
There was a significant correlation between the presence of obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) and maternal psychopathology in general (p < 0.001, r = 0.397)

Summary

Introduction

The lifetime prevalence of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in the general population is estimated to be around 1–2% [1]. Obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) are much more prevalent than the full-blown OCD, ranging from 21 to 25% in the community [2] to more than 80% in clinical samples [3] It is well-established that OCD may cause a lot of distress and interference to the patient but to the entire family [4,5,6]. Among women, since they are most often the children’s main caregiver, the presence of OCS may increase the risk for OCD and/or other psychiatric disorders in their children, having a direct impact on the well-being of their offspring [10, 11]. The non-clinical presentation of obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) in women may impact their daily lives and well-being and increase the risk for emotional and behavioral problems in their children. This study aims to investigate the OCS dimension distribution in a large sample of mothers from a cohort of school age children and the association between these OCS dimensions with their own psychopathology, and with the presence of OCS and other psychopathology in their children

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion