Validity and Factor Structure of the Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist

Abstract

The Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist (OCTC; Bouvard, Mollard, Cottraux, & Guerin 1989) is a 28 item questionnaire. Patients rate their degree of disturbance of the past week on a 5-point scale. The validation study and factor analysis of the OCTC is presented. Three groups were compared: patients suffering from obsessive compulsive disorders (n = 122), patients suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia (n = 61) and a control group (n = 80). The three groups were comparable in age and sex. Obsessive compulsive patients scored significantly higher than both agoraphobic patients and control subjects. Spearman rank correlations were used to compute convergent validity in a sub-group of obsessive compulsive patients (n = 96). The Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist correlated positively with the Compulsive Activity Checklist (rho =. 62; p <. 0001). The total score was also positively correlated with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS total scale: rho =. 42; p <. 0001; YBOCS obsession scale: rho =. 40; p <. 0001; YBOCS compulsion scale: rho. 37; p =. 0002). The factor structure was studied both on the sample which included agoraphobic patients and controls (n = 141) and on the obsessive compulsive patients only (n = 122). In both analyses, three identical factors were found: – factor 1: checking/perfectionism-orderliness – factor 2: responsibility/dread of harming others – factor 3: washing/contamination. Results support the validity and the internal consistency of the Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist. The factor analysis indicates that the OCTC is a three dimensional scale, reflecting a pathological need to check, a pathological sense of responsibility and a pathological need to wash, probably due to distorted thoughts about perfectionism and orderliness, an excessive need for control and fear of contamination.