title: Obsessive-compulsive disorder and the underlying structure of anxiety disorders in a nationally representative sample: confirmatory factor analytic findings from the German Health Survey.
abstract: The current study is the first to examine the underlying structure of anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), to use professional clinical interviewers (psychologists), and to examine past-year rather than lifetime diagnoses. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed using diagnoses from a nationally representative mental health survey in Germany based on face-to-face structured clinical interviews (conditional response rate 87.6%). Participants were 4181 adults. The diagnosis of OCD is loaded on an Anxious-Misery factor. Our results revealed several unique findings and extend previous epidemiologic work in this area. A major clinical implication of the current study is that the diagnosis of OCD should be conceptualized as part of an Anxious-Misery factor defined primarily by GAD, PTSD, depression, and dysthymia rather than part of a higher-order Fear factor defined primarily by panic and phobic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. coxbj@cc.umanitoba.ca
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Ian P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Clara
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hills
authors.forename: Jitender
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sareen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires