Comorbid psychopathology and clinical symptomatology in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Comorbid psychopathology in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been investigated in a number of studies over the last twenty years. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phenomenology of illness and broader psychopathology in a group of Greek children and adolescents with OCD. The investigation of parental psychopathology in children and adolescents with OCD was a secondary aim of the present study. We studied 31 children and adolescents with OCD (n=31, age range 8-15 years) and their parents (n=62, age range 43-48 years) and compared to children and adolescents with specific reading and written expression learning disorders (n=30, age range 7-16 years) and their parents (n=58, age range 40-46 years). Appropriate testing showed specific reading and learning disorders, which were of mild to moderate severity for the 85% of this latter group. The diagnosis of learning disorder of reading and written expression was made through the use of standardized reading material, appropriate for ages 10-15 years. Reading comprehension and narration were tested. The written expression (spelling, syntax, content) was examined by a written text, in which the subject developed a certain theme from the reading material. Based on their level of education and occupation, the index families were classified as high (29%), average (45%) and low (26%) socioeconomic status, whereas 6.7% of control families belonged to high, 63.3% to average, and 30% to low status. In order to investigate psychopathology, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children, Present and Life-time version was administered to children and their parents, as well as the Child Behavior Checklist 4/18 (CBCL) to both parents and adolescents (Youth Self-Report). Also the Yale- Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was rated for both children and parents. Moreover, the children were given the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). In the OCD group, 48% had contamination obsessions, 42% aggressive obsessions and 52% had washing and cleaning compulsions. Moreover, 32% had one additional disorder and 16.1% had two additional disorders. In comparison, only 17.2% of the control group children had one comorbid disorder. The OCD proband group had higher Total Problems score, as well as higher Anxiety/Depression, Thought Problems and Externalizing scores on the CBCL. When proband