The distinctiveness of compulsive hoarding from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The present study investigated the relation of compulsive hoarding to other obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in a sample of 162 patients with OCD. Obsessions and compulsions reported on the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV were submitted to an exploratory factor analysis. Results suggested a four-factor model: "Certainty," "Contamination," "Obsessions," and "Numbers/Ordering." Hoarding did not load on any factor. The sample was divided into three groups: pure hoarding, nonhoarding OCD, and mixed OCD and hoarding. The hoarding group endorsed significantly less anxiety, worry, stress, and negative affect on self-report measures than the mixed and nonhoarding groups. Although hoarding sometimes functions as a compulsion among individuals with OCD, hoarding in the absence of other OCD symptoms may be a clinically distinct syndrome.
Grisham
Jessica R
JR
Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, MA 02215, USA. jgisham@bu.edu
Brown
Timothy A
TA
Liverant
Gabrielle I
GI
Campbell-Sills
Laura
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003193:Compulsive Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires