Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Traits Research Articles

Variants in Imagery Rescripting for OCD: Memories Versus Future, Attachment Versus Mastery

AbstractImagery rescripting commonly seeks to target memories by imagining the intervention of a caregiver. In some cases, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the target imagery may also be episodic future imagery, and a sense of mastery may be more salient than an intervening caregiver. We aimed to compare how varying the target image and rescripting approaches influenced beliefs, emotions, or characteristics of idiopathic imagery relevant to OCD. We recruited 250 online participants high in OCD traits. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, reflecting variations in target image (memory/future) and rescripting approach (attachment/mastery). Self-administered audio-guided exercises were used to elicit the target image and facilitate rescripting. Participants completed a range of measures before and after rescripting. Participants in all groups tended to report changes in self-related beliefs, emotions, and imagery characteristics. In general, these results did not differ between target images or rescripting approaches. However, mastery-based rescripting reduced anxiety associated with episodic future imagery to a greater extent than attachment-based rescripting. These results suggest that the general benefit of modifying emotionally salient imagery tends to outweigh differential effects of varying the target image or rescripting approach. Standardised re-scripting protocols could be varied based on the individual’s needs.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Psychiatric Traits and Diagnoses within a Community-based Sample of Children and Youth: Disparités raciales/ethniques dans les traits et diagnostics psychiatriques au sein d'un échantillon communautaire d'enfants et de jeunes.

Racial/ethnic disparities in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders have been reported, but have not accounted for the prevalence of the traits that underlie these disorders. Examining rates of diagnoses in relation to traits may yield a clearer understanding of the degree to which racial/ethnic minority youth in Canada differ in their access to care. We sought to examine differences in self/parent-reported rates of diagnoses for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety disorders after adjusting for differences in trait levels between youth from three racial/ethnic groups: White, South Asian and East Asian. We collected parent or self-reported ratings of OCD, ADHD and anxiety traits and diagnoses for 6- to 17-year-olds from a Canadian general population sample (Spit for Science). We examined racial/ethnic differences in trait levels and the odds of reporting a diagnosis using mixed-effects linear models and logistic regression models. East Asian (N = 1301) and South Asian (N = 730) youth reported significantly higher levels of OCD and anxiety traits than White youth (N = 6896). East Asian and South Asian youth had significantly lower odds of reporting a diagnosis for OCD (odds ratio [OR]East Asian = 0.08 [0.02, 0.41]; ORSouth Asian = 0.05 [0.00, 0.81]), ADHD (OREast Asian = 0.27 [0.16, 0.45]; ORSouth Asian = 0.09 [0.03, 0.30]) and anxiety (OREast Asian = 0.21 [0.11, 0.39]; ORSouth Asian = 0.12 [0.05, 0.32]) than White youth after accounting for psychiatric trait levels. These results suggest a discrepancy between trait levels of OCD, ADHD and anxiety and rates of diagnoses for East Asian and South Asian youth. This discrepancy may be due to increased barriers for ethnically diverse youth to access mental health care. Efforts to understand and mitigate these barriers in Canada are needed.

Autistic Traits as Predictors of Increased Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Severity: The Role of Inflexibility and Communication Impairment.

Due to similar manifestations, some authors have proposed a potential correlation between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This link has long been recognized and debated, with some authors arguing that these disorders frequently occur comorbid but distinct while others believe they are part of the same spectrum. The aim of our study was to explore the prevalence and correlates of autistic traits in 55 OCD patients and 55 matched controls and to assess possible autistic dimensions predictive of higher OCD symptoms. All participants were assessed with the Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum-Short Version (OBS-SV) and the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum). The OCD group scored significantly higher in both questionnaires. Total OBS-SV scores and domains were significantly correlated with all AdAS Spectrum domains and total score. The AdAS Spectrum total, Verbal Communication and Inflexibility and adherence to routine domain scores were significant positive predictors of higher OBS-SV scores. Lastly, when two clusters of subjects (high and low autism) were determined, Inflexibility and adherence to routine domain presented the greatest influence in forming the clusters. Our findings support the association between OCD and autistic traits in the adult population, supporting the hypothesis of a neurodevelopmental basis for these psychiatric conditions.

Do Autistic Traits Predict Outcome of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

The first aim of this study was to explore whether children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and subclinical autistic traits can be differentiated from children with OCD without these traits based on clinical OCD-related characteristics, distinct OCD symptom patterns, and type of comorbidity. The second aim was to investigate whether autistic traits predict immediate and long-term outcome of exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in pediatric OCD.The participants in this study were a total of 257 children and adolescents aged 7-17 years, recruited from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden as a part of the Nordic long-term OCD treatment study (NordLOTS). Inclusion criteria were an OCD diagnosis based on DSM-IV criteria and a Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) total severity score of 16 or higher. No children with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum were included. An Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) cut-off score of ≥ 17 was used to define the group of OCD patients with autistic traits and all participants were treated with 14 weekly sessions of manualized CBT.Comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and tic disorders, subclinical internalizing and externalizing symptoms, lower insight into OCD symptoms, more indecisiveness and pervasive slowness, and ordering/arranging OCD symptoms were found to be significantly associated with having OCD with autistic traits. No difference was found between the groups on treatment outcomes.Results suggest that children and adolescents with OCD and autistic traits portray a different clinical profile than those without these traits, but that CBT is equally effective for those with and without autistic traits.

Effectiveness of brief daily training using a mobile app in reducing obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms: Examining real world data of “OCD.app - Anxiety, mood & sleep”

BackgroundRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) indicate that mobile delivered training targeting OCD cognitions is effective in reducing OCD symptoms. However, interventions shown to be effective in RCTs may be less effective in real world settings. MethodsReal world data of “OCD.app - Anxiety, Mood & Sleep” users was collected from October 2020 to June 2022. Users’ OCD symptoms, trait and state mood scores were evaluated at baseline (T0; n = 46,955), payment barrier (T1; n = 13,568), and at the final level (T-final; n = 1732). ResultsDropout rates were higher for women and associated with younger age. Medium effect size reductions in OCI-R scores from T0 to T1 (Cohen's d = 0.37) and medium-large (Cohen's d = 0.66) reductions from T0 to T-final were found. Effects remained when controlling for demographic data and mood and were strongest for users with severe OCD symptoms. Clinically significant improvement (OCI-R change ≥21) was found in 16% of users with severe OCD symptoms. Although stable user traits were prominent moderators of change following short-term use, app usage indicators were more notable over longer training periods. ConclusionsReal world data supports the effectiveness of OCD.app for reducing the full range of OCD symptoms.

Efficacy of Onabotulinum Toxin A on Obsessive-Compulsive Traits in a Population of Chronic Migraine Patients.

Drug addiction may play an important role in chronic migraine (CM) with medication-overuse headache (MOH). Psychiatric diseases are associated with CM, but data regarding obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are lacking. We aimed to establish the prevalence of OCD traits in CM patients with MOH and the impact on onabotulinum toxin A (OBT-A) treatment. A total of 75 patients with CM and MOH undergoing treatment with OBT-A in our Headache Centre were evaluated. At baseline and after four injection sessions, we assessed the migraine burden and the presence of OCD traits with the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) test. At baseline, 28% of patients had OCI-R scores compatible with borderline OCD aspects, while 22.7% were pathological. An improvement in headache was significantly associated with an increase in the number of subjects with a normal OCI-R score at T0 and T1, whereas patients with a pathological OCI-R score at T0 showed a significantly higher prevalence of CM at T1. Our data showed a significant rate of OCD traits at baseline, which could strengthen the hypothesis of an addictive disorder underlying CM with MOH. OCD traits seem to influence the OBT-A response. An OCD assessment could be useful in improving patients' selections before starting treatments.

Gender differences in obsessive-compulsive disorder traits among chronic migraine patients.

Psychiatric illnesses are often associated with severe forms of headache as chronic migraine (CM) with medication overuse headaches (MOH). Few data are available about obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) in migraineurs. This study aimed to investigate OCD traits in CM with MOH patients of both sexes and the impact on migraine treatment. We enrolled all consecutive patients with CM and MOH treated with onabotulinumtoxin-A (OBT-A) in our Headache Center. Each subject was submitted to the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) test at the start (T0) and after four OBT-A sessions (T1). Statistical analysis compared OCI-R results at T0 and T1 according to sex with the chi-square test. We analyzed a sample of 60 subjects (40 females, 66.7%). At T0, 25% of males and 37.5% of females had a normal profile while 60% of males and 22.5% of females presented pathologic OCD traits. At T1, 30% of males and 60% of females were normal, while 40% of males and 15% of females resulted frankly pathologic. The difference in the OCI-R distribution was significant at T0 (p = 0.024) and at T1 (p = 0.047). Both males and females underwent a significant increase in normalization rates at T1 (p < 0.05). We observed a significant OCD traits rate at baseline, moreover among men. Females showed a more significant improvement in OCD traits at T1. OBT-A confirmed its high efficacy on CM, with a migraine severity improvement in both genders and all the OCI-R classes. Psychological attitude in the management of migraine should be better investigated in future studies.

Autistic Traits and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Patients with Migraine With or Without Aura

Background: Migraine is one of the most common neurological disorders and often shows comorbidity with psychiatric disorders. Data regarding comorbidity between migraine and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are limited. In addition, although anxiety disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are commonly encountered with migraine, and the fact that the OCD and ASD relationship is well established, there are conflicting results concerning the possible relationships between migraine and OCD. The purpose of this study is to understand is there any relationship between ASD, OCD and migraine. Methods: The study included only females, 40 with migraine and 26 without migraine or any other type of headache syndrome or neurological disorders. The study included people aged between 20 and 61 years of age. Migraineurs were divided into two groups according to the presence/absence of aura. Demographic and clinical variables were recorded. Diagnosis of OCD was made by using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and OCD severity and content was assessed by the Yale Brown Obsession and Compulsion Scale (YBOCS). Autistic traits were rated by use of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Results: The YBOCS and AQ total scores were higher in patients with migraine (vs. controls) and those with aura (vs. non-aura); however, in both of these comparisons, the ‘attention switching’ and ‘imagination’ subscales (of the AQ) were found to be similar among the compared groups. Subclinical OCD was significantly more frequent in migraineurs (vs. controls) and those with aura (vs. non-aura). OCD diagnosis was similar among migraineurs and controls, but the aura group had significantly higher frequency of OCD compared to the non-aura group. Conclusion: According to our results, migraine and the presence of aura in migraineurs appear to be associated with OCD and autistic traits (as measured by the YBOCS and the AQ).

Deontological Guilt and Disgust Sensitivity Modulate Moral Behaviour.

ObjectiveDeontological Guilt (DG), and Altruistic Guilt (AG) emerge from the appraisal of violating an internalized rule or an altruistic principle, respectively. DG is strictly connected with Disgust Sensitivity and plays a key role in the development and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Previous studies investigated how DG affects responses to hypothetical moral dilemmas, however how DG and Disgust Sensitivity interact modulating moral behavior is still unknown.MethodsSTUDY 1. 46 healthy participants performed an ecological paradigm in which people can spontaneously decide to lie to obtain a reward (egoistic lie) or give it away (altruistic lie) after three emotional inductions: DG, AG or neutral. Furthermore, OCD traits, Morality, Guilt Propensity and Disgust Sensitivity were assessed by means of questionnaires. STUDY 2. 27 participants from the original sample were retested during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy to ascertain whether the pandemic modified traits related to morality, disgust, guilt or OCD symptoms and whether these changes modulated moral behavior (measured by a task in which cheating was associated to higher pay-offs).ResultsSTUDY 1. Compared to the neutral, after the DG induction participants produced less altruistic and more egoistic lies. This effect was stronger in participants with high Disgust Sensitivity. STUDY 2. During the COVID-19 lockdown participants became more sensitive to the Authority pillar of the Moral Foundations and more sensitive to Disgust: this increment in deontological morality affected (im) moral behavior depending on changes in Disgust Sensitivity.ConclusionsOur data suggest that people with high Disgust Sensitivity are more affected by deontological inductions which translate to higher immorality, supposedly by lowering their moral self-image. These results might have important clinical implications as they suggest that addressing Disgust Sensitivity in therapy, might also decrease the effect of guilt on patients’ behavior.

The relationships of parent- and child-related psychiatric conditions with oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder symptoms in children with ADHD

ABSTRACT This cross-sectional study evaluated the impacts of maternal and paternal affective temperament traits, maternal and paternal ADHD, depression and anxiety symptoms, parenting styles, child’s depression and anxiety disorder symptoms, and child’s autistic traits on the oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Analysis showed a positive relation of maternal anxious and irritable temperament and child inattention, hyperactivity–impulsivity and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) scores on ODD scores. However, there was a negative relationship between parental acceptance/involvement and ODD scores. Regarding CD scores, maternal irritable and paternal cyclothymic and hyperthymic temperament scores and child ODD and autistic trait scores showed a positive relationship, whereas maternal ADHD showed a negative relationship on CD scores. Certain parental affective temperaments, parenting styles, child’s OCD and autistic traits, and maternal ADHD may be important for the severity of disruptive behavioral disorder symptoms in children with ADHD.

Schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits: Co-occurrence rate and relationship with executive function, emotion experience, and emotion expressivity in college students.

Empirical findings suggest that there is an overlap between schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These disorders also have a high comorbidity rate. However, little is known about the impact of co-occurring schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits on executive function, emotion experience, and emotion expressivity in the normal population. The present study examined the prevalence of coexisting schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits and the relationship between these two traits in a sample of healthy college students. We also conducted a moderation analysis to explore the effect of these two type of traits on executive function, emotion experience, and emotion expressivity. We recruited 3,319 participants to complete the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory - Revised (OCI-R). A subset of them (n = 575) also completed the Chinese versions of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX), the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS), and the Emotional Expressivity Scale (EES). We found that the prevalence of co-occurring schizotypal and OCD traits was 3.33%. All the subscales of the SPQ and the OCI-R significantly correlated with each other. Both traits had a negative impact on executive function and emotion expressivity. The interaction between the disorganization dimension of schizotypal traits and OCD traits had a significant effect on executive function, but not emotion experience or emotion expressivity. This study was limited by its cross-sectional design and recruitment of only college students. These findings suggest that there is an approximately 3% rate of co-occurring schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits in a healthy college student sample. The interaction between these two types of traits may influence executive function.

M70 - DETERMINING THE GENETIC OVERLAP BETWEEN TOURETTE SYNDROME (TS), OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD) AND OCD/TIC-RELATED TRAITS

Background Tourette Syndrome (TS) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are heritable neuropsychiatric disorders with a childhood onset. TS is characterized by multiple and involuntary motor tics and at least one vocal tic that persists for more than one year. TS has a prevalence of 0,3-0,8%. OCD is characterized by recurring obsessions and/or compulsions and affects up to 2% of the population. The disorders often co-occur, with their comorbidity ranging between 20–60%. Moreover, there are striking similarities in the phenotypic representation of TS/tics and OCD. Previous studies indicate that TS and OCD may share some common genetic susceptibility factors - with an estimated genetic correlation of 0.41 - but also suggest that there are distinct components to the genetic architectures of the two disorders. Two recent population-based twin sample studies also reported genetic correlations between tics and OCD-related traits (0.37 and 0.45). In this study we further investigated the shared genetic etiology between TS, OCD, and OCD traits as well as tic traits in the general population. Methods We conducted a number of Polygenic Risk Score (PRS)-based analyses. For these analyses, we used the summary statistics data from the Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) of TS and the summary statistics from the meta-analysis of the two GWASs of OCD conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) (unpublished, provided by PGC OCD Working Group) as the 'base' sample. As 'target' samples, we used summary statistics of GWASs of OCD traits and tic traits in the general population. For these GWASs, we used phenotypic and genotyping data from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) cohort obtained from dbGaP (phs000607.v1.p1). To conduct the OCD trait GWASs, we first developed a questionnaire consisting of 22 OCD trait questions and conducted a factor analysis of the questionnaire, to reveal the subsets of OCD traits that group together and may better capture the underlying genetic architecture. We then conducted GWASs of the total score on the 22 OCD trait questions and of six OCD trait factors in 650 children and adolescents from the CHOP cohort. For tic traits, we conducted a GWAS on the total score on 4 tic trait questions in 207 individuals from the CHOP cohort. Results The factor analysis of the 22 OCD trait questions revealed 8 factors that constitute the best fit and explain 58,6% of the variance in the total score on the 22 questions, i.e. 'impairment', 'symmetry/counting/ordering', 'contamination/cleaning', 'aggressive taboo thoughts (tt)', 'repetition', 'guilty tt', 'distress' and 'religious tt'. The PRS-based analyses yielded a significant evidence for shared genetic etiology between OCD and the three OCD traits 'impairment' (1.06% variance explained (ve)), 'contamination/cleaning' (3.54% ve,) and 'guilty taboo thoughts' (5.64% ve). Furthermore, we found significant shared genetic etiology between TS and four OCD traits: 'symmetry/counting/ordering' (3.03% ve), 'contamination/cleaning' (1.28% ve), 'aggressive taboo thoughts' (4.96% ve) and 'distress' (1.83% ve), and between TS and the total score on tic traits (4.78% ve). OCD and TS did not show significant genetic overlap with the total score on the 22 OCD trait questions. Discussion Our findings provide additional and novel evidence that certain OCD traits show genetic overlap with OCD and TS, which adds to our understanding of the genetic risk factors that are shared by and unique to these comorbid disorders.

Anger rumination is not uniquely characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Although anger has been observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it remains unclear if rumination about anger is characteristic and/or unique to OCD. The present study examines whether types of anger rumination are endorsed more strongly by OCD patients compared to clinical and nonclinical controls. Patients with OCD (n = 30), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n = 29), and non-clinical controls (NCC; n = 30) completed measures of OCD symptoms, anger rumination, and trait anxiety. Patients with OCD and GAD significantly differed from NCC's (all ps < .001), but not each other (all ps > .10), in anger afterthoughts, thoughts of revenge, angry memories, and understanding causes of anger. However, the group differences were no longer significant when controlling for trait anxiety. A dimensional approach revealed that OCD symptoms were correlated with anger rumination domains overall. However, these associations were also no longer significant after controlling for trait anxiety. These findings suggest that anger rumination may emerge in OCD largely as an artifact of trait anxiety/negative affect that is associated with but not unique to the disorder. The implications of these findings for conceptualizing emotion and its regulation in OCD are discussed.

Increased Loss Aversion in Unmedicated Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients show abnormalities in decision-making and, clinically, appear to show heightened sensitivity to potential negative outcomes. Despite the importance of these cognitive processes in OCD, few studies have examined the disorder within an economic decision-making framework. Here, we investigated loss aversion, a key construct in the prospect theory that describes the tendency for individuals to be more sensitive to potential losses than gains when making decisions. Across two study sites, groups of unmedicated OCD patients (n = 14), medicated OCD patients (n = 29), and healthy controls (n = 34) accepted or rejected a series of 50/50 gambles containing varying loss/gain values. Loss aversion was calculated as the ratio of the likelihood of rejecting a gamble with increasing potential losses to the likelihood of accepting a gamble with increasing potential gains. Decision times to accept or reject were also examined and correlated with loss aversion. Unmedicated OCD patients exhibited significantly more loss aversion compared to medicated OCD or controls, an effect that was replicated across both sites and remained significant even after controlling for OCD symptom severity, trait anxiety, and sex. Post hoc analyses further indicated that unmedicated patients' increased likelihood to reject a gamble as its loss value increased could not be explained solely by greater risk aversion among patients. Unmedicated patients were also slower to accept than reject gambles, effects that were not found in the other two groups. Loss aversion was correlated with decision times in unmedicated patients but not in the other two groups. These data identify abnormalities of decision-making in a subgroup of OCD patients not taking psychotropic medication. The findings help elucidate the cognitive mechanisms of the disorder and suggest that future treatments could aim to target abnormalities of loss/gain processing during decision-making in this population.

Compulsivity and probabilistic reversal learning in OCD and cocaine addiction

Compulsive behavior is a core symptom of both obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and cocaine addiction (CA). Across both pathologies, one can identify a priori goal-directed actions (purportedly anxiolytic checking or washing in OCD and pleasure-seeking drug use in addiction) that turn into rigid, ritualized and repetitive behaviors over which the patient loose control. One possible psychopathological mechanism underlying compulsivity is behavioral inflexibility, namely a deficit in the aptitude to dynamically adapt to novel contexts and changing reward rules. The probabilistic reversal learning paradigm allows to objectively assess behavioral flexibility by challenging participants with a task where they have to learn through trials-and-errors which of two stimuli is the most-often rewarded one, while adjusting to sudden inconspicuous contingency reversals. We therefore hypothesized that both OCD and CA would be associated with impaired cognitive flexibility, as measured through perseverative response rate following contingency reversals in this task. Interestingly, impulsivity may also be assessed within this task via the tendency of participants to switch from one stimulus to the other following probabilistic errors. To investigate cognitive inflexibility in relation to CA and OCD respectively, we first compared the performance in a probabilistic reversal learning task of cocaine users, ex cocaine users (abstinent for 2 months or more), and controls, as well as that of participants from the general population whose obsessive-compulsive traits were assessed using the OCI-R, a well-validated self-questionnaire. Our task yielded results similar to those found in the literature: cocaine addicts changed their responses more often, and learned less effectively. Ex-cocaine addicts performed better than addicts but worse than controls, suggesting that addicts’ poor results may be in part explained by reversible cognitive consequences of addiction. Addicts with less cognitive impairments may also be less likely to relapse. Regarding the relationship of flexibility to subclinical OCD traits, we found no link between OCI-R score and perseveration, or between impulsiveness and excessive switching.

Mood instability in people with obsessive compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality traits

BackgroundThis study examines the association of mood instability (MI) with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality (OCP) traits. MethodsData was from 2000 and 2007 British Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys. MI was assessed with a self-reported question about sudden mood changes and with the mood reactivity criterion of the borderline personality disorder assessment done by an interviewer, both from the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-II). OCD diagnosis was established using the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised. OCP traits were self-reported responses to 8 questions from SCID-II. ResultsIndividuals assessed with MI by both methods separately are more likely to have an OCD diagnosis (OR: 7.28, 95% CI: 3.94–13.45) and (OR: 9.88, 95% CI: 3.90–25.03). The association remained significant when we controlled for depression and excluded OCD cases with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Individuals with MI are more likely to report OCP traits (OR: 9.88, 95% CI: 3.90–25.03). Except for moral scrupulosity, MI is associated with all other OCP traits (p<.01). The proportion of individuals with MI increased linearly with number of OCP traits. ConclusionsMI is common in people with OCD and OCP traits. Further understanding of MI in people with OCD and OCP traits could lead to improved treatment.

The Clinical Implications of High Levels of Autism Spectrum Disorder Features in Anorexia Nervosa: A Pilot Study

This study examined autism spectrum disorder (ASD) features in relation to treatment completion and eating disorder psychopathology in anorexia nervosa (AN). Thirty-two adult women were recruited from specialist eating disorder services. Features of ASD and disordered eating were measured. Premature termination of treatment was recorded to explore whether ASD traits had impact on early discharge. A healthy control group was also recruited to investigate ASD traits between clinical and nonclinical samples. Significant differences were found between the AN group and the healthy control group in obsessive-compulsive disorder traits, depression and anxiety and ASD traits, with significant differences between groups in Social Skill and Attention Switching. The AN group reported no significant relationship between disordered eating severity and ASD traits. No significant effect was found between ASD features and treatment completion. Raw data on premature termination of treatment, despite no statistic impact, showed that seven out of the eight participants with high features of ASD completed treatment as planned compared with 50% of those with low ASD traits. Unexpectedly, this suggests enhanced treatment adherence in ASD.

Do the traits of autism-spectrum overlap with those of schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder in the general population?

Social and communicative deficits, restricted interests and repetitive behaviors are diagnostic features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The present study examined the relationship between autistic characteristics and schizophrenia-spectrum traits as well as between autistic characteristics and obsessive-compulsive traits in typically developed young adults. The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was given separately to two large samples. In addition, one sample (N=662) was given the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) to assess schizophrenia-spectrum traits, whereas the other sample (N=347) was given the Padua Inventory (PI) to assess obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) traits. The results revealed a moderate correlation between the AQ and the SPQ total scores; however, multiple regression analyses showed that the “Cognitive-Perceptual” factor did not predict the autism-spectrum degree, although autistic characteristics and schizophrenia-spectrum traits had common social–emotional difficulties. Similarly, there was a moderate correlation between the AQ and PI total scores, which suggests that they had common problems in cognitive aspects; however, autism-spectrum and OCD traits differed with regard to other behavioral characteristics including repetitive or impulsive behaviors. Therefore, there was not a large overlap of the autism-spectrum and either the schizophrenia- or obsessive-compulsive spectrums, although certain traits were correlated with each other.

Phenomenology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy or Tourette Syndrome

Phenomenology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy or Tourette Syndrome

Phenomenology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy or Tourette Syndrome

Phenomenology of comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder was compared in nine patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and 15 with Tourette syndrome. Content of obsessive-compulsive themes focuses on sexuality and impulsiveness in Tourette syndrome and existential thoughts in temporal lobe epilepsy.