title: A meta-analysis of family accommodation and OCD symptom severity.
abstract: Family accommodation in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by myriad behaviors, such as modifying family routines, facilitating avoidance, and engaging in compulsions to reduce obsessional distress. It has been linked to various deleterious outcomes including increased functional impairment and poorer treatment response for OCD. Although extant literature suggests a linear relationship between family accommodation and OCD symptom severity, the magnitude and statistical significance of this association has been inconsistent across studies, indicating that moderators may be influencing this relationship. The present study examined this relationship using meta-analytic techniques, and investigated sample-dependent (age, gender, comorbid anxiety/mood disorders) and methodological (administration method and number of items used in family accommodation measure, informant type, sample size, publication year) moderators. Forty-one studies were included in the present meta-analysis, and the overall effect size (ES) for the correlation between family accommodation and OCD symptom severity was moderate (r=.42). Moderator analyses revealed that the number of items on the family accommodation scale moderated the ES. No other sample-dependent or methodological characteristics emerged as moderators. In addition to being the first systematic examination of family accommodation moderators, these results highlight the moderate relationship between family accommodation and OCD severity that is influenced by measurement scales. Findings may be used to guide clinical care and inform future investigations by providing a more nuanced understanding of family accommodation in OCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA; Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., PCD 4118G, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. Electronic address: MonicaWu@mail.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Monica S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 48-228B, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA.
authors.forename: Charitie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., PCD 4118G, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.
authors.forename: Vicky
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Phares
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., PCD 4118G, Tampa, FL 33620, USA; Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Pediatric Anxiety Research Center, 1011 Veterans Memorial Parkway, Riverside, RI 02915, USA.
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Selles
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA; Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., PCD 4118G, Tampa, FL 33620, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of South Florida, 3515 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa, FL 33613, USA; Department of Health Management and Policy, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612, USA; Rogers Behavioral Health-Tampa Bay, 2002 N Lois Ave., Tampa, FL 33607, USA; All Children's Hospital-Johns Hopkins Medicine, 880 6th Street South, Suite 460, Box 7523, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Storch
mesh_terms: D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Accommodation; Correlation; Family; Meta-analysis; Moderators; OCD