General and maladaptive personality dimensions in pediatric obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic and impairing clinical disorder in childhood, often characterized by a heterogeneous symptomatic profile and high co-occurrence with other disorders. The present study introduces a new perspective on the description of OCD symptoms in youth, and empirically examines the value of a personality framework (e.g. Five Factor of Personality; FFM) for understanding early OCD symptomatology in a referred sample of 274 children and adolescents, relying on age-specific measures of general and maladaptive personality. Differences in general and maladaptive personality traits for high versus low-scoring children and adolescents on the Obsessive-Compulsive Scale of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-OCS) were explored. The discriminant validity of both higher-and lower-order personality traits was supported, showing that high CBCL-OCS scorers are characterized by specific personality features ranging from adaptive to pathological, especially in terms of Conscientiousness. In addition, personality traits contributed to the accurate classification of high- versus low-scorers on the CBCL-OCS. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Aelterman
Nathalie
N
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, H. Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Nathalie.Aelterman@UGent.be
De Clercq
Barbara
B
De Bolle
Marleen
M
De Fruyt
Filip
F
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity