The psychopathology of parents of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to determine the rates of psychopathology in parents of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and compare these with that found in parents of children with learning disorders of reading and written expression.


METHODS
Thirty-one children with OCD, aged 8-15 years, and their parents (n = 62), aged 43-48 years, were studied and compared to 30 children with learning disorders, aged 7-16 years, and their parents (n = 58), aged 40-46 years. In order to investigate the parental psychopathology, the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale were administered. The psychopathology of children was examined through the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for school-aged children and other instruments.


RESULTS
Both fathers and mothers of the probands differed from the controls in a variety of symptoms (i.e. anxiety, depression, obsessions, etc.). Both parents had increased severity of OC symptomatology in comparison to the controls. In addition, the probands' fathers had severe OC symptomatology at a higher percentage than the mothers and respective controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The elevated scores of the parents of children with OCD in some SCL-90-R subscales can be perceived as an index of heightened psychopathology. More fathers in the OCD group, compared to mothers and controls, were found to have OC symptoms in the SCL-90-R and increased severity of OC symptoms on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. The last finding requires further study. Parental psychopathology in children with OCD needs to be addressed clinically.
Liakopoulou
Magda
M
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, University of Athens Medical School, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Goudi, Athens, Greece. mliakopo@otenet.gr
Korlou
Sofia
S
Sakellariou
Katerina
K
Kondyli
Vassiliki
V
Kapsimali
Efi
E
Sarafidou
Jasmin
J
Anagnostopoulos
Dimitris
D
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires