Obsessions and compulsions across time in 79 children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Individual symptoms of 79 children and adolescents with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder were obtained from chart review of at least two in-persons evaluations and recorded across an average of 7.9 years (range, 2 to 16). Symptoms were grouped according to the categories of the Yale-Brown Symptom Checklist. No significant age related trends were found with any one type of symptom, although patients with a very early onset of illness (less than 6 years old) were more likely to have compulsions than obsessions. Across the study period, patients reported symptoms from many different symptom categories, with 47% of the patients displaying both washing and checking compulsions at some time during their illness. No patient maintained the same constellation of symptoms from presentation to follow-up. These data support the concept of obsessive-compulsive disorder as an illness with varied clinical manifestations that individually change over time.
Rettew
D C
DC
Child Psychiatry Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Swedo
S E
SE
Leonard
H L
HL
Lenane
M C
MC
Rapoport
J L
JL
D000293:Adolescent; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D002648:Child; D002997:Clomipramine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D010553:Personality Development; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D013850:Thinking / Q000187:drug effects
D002997:Clomipramine