title: The familiality of specific symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: This study aimed to assess whether a family history of specific OCD symptoms was associated with the same OCD symptoms in study participants. Participants were sampled from the Nepean OCD study (N=206) and were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist (YBOCS-SC) and the Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory (VOCI) in order to determine their OCD symptoms. A family history screen was used to determine whether participants had a first-degree relative with a history of any of the following specific symptoms: hoarding, contamination/cleaning, symmetry/ordering, doubt/checking and/or other OCD symptoms. The characteristics of participants with a family history of a specific OCD symptom were compared to those of participants with a family history of any other OCD symptom. This was repeated for each specific OCD symptom. The roles of co-occurring tics and age of onset of OCD were also assessed. Distinct familial associations were detected for the symptoms of hoarding and contamination/cleaning. Age of onset of OCD was significantly younger in participants who reported a family history of "other" symptoms. These findings suggest that certain OCD symptom dimensions are more familial than others, which has significant implications for aetiology of OCD.
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School - Nepean, Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney/Penrith, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: vbrakoulias@bigpond.com.
authors.forename: Vlasios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brakoulias
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School - Nepean, Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney/Penrith, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Vladan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Starcevic
authors.affiliation: NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia; St John of God Healthcare, Richmond Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berle
authors.affiliation: Nepean Anxiety Disorders Clinic, Nepean/Blue Mountains Local Health District, Sydney/Penrith, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Milicevic
authors.affiliation: Nepean Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kirupamani
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Viswasam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D063189:Symptom Assessment