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Family accommodation (FA) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) refers to family members’ or significant others’ participation in or facilitation of patients’ rituals and/or avoidance. With recent studies pointing to FA as a predictor of poorer treatment outcome, there is heightened interest in developing family-based interventions for OCD aimed at reducing FA. The interviewer-rated Family Accommodation Scale for OCD (FAS-IR) is the gold standard for assessing the types and severity of FA in OCD families. However, the cost of training interviewers and the time required for administration may limit its use in some settings. A valid self-rated version could be administered for research and clinical purposes with minimal burden and has the potential to be more widely used. The present study reports on the development and initial psychometric testing of the Family Accommodation Scale for OCD-Self Rated Version (FAS-SR). The FAS-SR was compared to the FAS-IR in a sample of 41 relatives of individuals with primary OCD, demonstrating excellent internal consistency, strong agreement with the FAS-IR, and expected convergence with criterion measures. Though further study using the self-rated version is needed, these findings suggest that the FAS-SR is a valid measure of FA and a time-saving, less costly alternative to the FAS-IR.

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In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), family accommodation is a frequently occurring phenomenon that has been linked to attenuated treatment response, increased obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, and lower levels of functioning. No patient-report version of family accommodation exists, with available measures relying on relatives as informants. However, adult patients with OCD often present to clinical services alone, frequently making it impractical to obtain information from these informants. Consequently, a standardized patient-reported measure of family accommodation proves salient in clinical practice. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Family Accommodation Scale for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder-Patient Version (FAS-PV). Sixty-one adults with OCD were administered clinician-rated measures of OCD symptom severity and self-report questionnaires examining functional impairment, family functioning, and emotional/behavioral difficulties. Fifty-four relatives completed self-report measures assessing family accommodation and family functioning. The majority of the adult OCD participants (89%) endorsed at least 1 type of accommodating behavior in the previous week. The FAS-PV total score demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Convergent validity was evidenced by strong associations with scores on another measure of family accommodation, OCD symptom severity, OCD-related family functioning, anxiety, and functional impairment. Divergent validity was supported through nonsignificant correlations with depressive symptoms and impulsivity. The FAS-PV did not significantly differ from the relative-reported measure of family accommodation in terms of the internal consistency or mean of the total scores. Ultimately, the FAS-PV scores demonstrated sound psychometric properties and validity in assessing family accommodation from the patient's perspective, encouraging its use in research and clinical practice.