Clinical characteristics and predictors of hoarding in children with anxiety disorders

Abstract

ObjectiveThis investigation was conducted to describe the clinical of characteristics of anxious children with significant hoarding behavior and to examine the contributions of anxiety, obsessive compulsive, and inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms in the prediction of hoarding. MethodOne hundred nine children seeking treatment for an anxiety disorder and their parents completed clinician-administered and parent-report measures of emotional and behavioral symptoms, functional impairment, and hoarding symptoms. ResultsElevated levels of hoarding were reported for 22% of the sample. Children with elevated hoarding scored significantly higher on measures of anxiety, obsessive–compulsive, attention, social, and thought problems, rule-breaking, aggression, and overall functional impairment and had higher rates of major depressive disorder than children without hoarding. Attention problems predicted hoarding symptomology over-and-above the contributions of either anxiety or obsessive–compulsive symptoms. ConclusionsFindings suggest a pattern of behavioral and emotional dysregulation for children who hoard and provide further insight into the relationships between anxiety, attention problems, and hoarding.