title: Distinguishing Fear Versus Distress Symptomatology in Pediatric OCD.
abstract: Prior research has identified OCD subtypes or "clusters" of symptoms that differentially relate to clinical features of the disorder. Given the high comorbidity between OCD and anxiety, OCD symptom clusters may more broadly associate with fear and/or distress internalizing constructs. This study examines fear and distress dimensions, including physical concerns (fear), separation anxiety (fear), perfectionism (distress), and anxious coping (distress), as predictors of previously empirically-derived OCD symptom clusters in a sample of 215 youth diagnosed with primary OCD (ages 7-17, mean age = 12.25). Self-reported separation fears predicted membership in Cluster 1 (aggressive, sexual, religious, somatic obsessions, and checking compulsions) while somatic/autonomic fears predicted membership in Cluster 2 (symmetry obsessions and ordering, counting, repeating compulsions). Results highlight the diversity of pediatric OCD symptoms and their differential association with fear, suggesting the need to carefully assess both OCD and global fear constructs that might be directly targeted in treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. mrozenman@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rozenman
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peris
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: R Lindsey
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: James T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: McCracken
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, 67-455, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piacentini
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000067289:Behavior Observation Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000072639:Perfectionism; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Adolescent; Child; Distress; Fear; OCD