Assessment of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Critical Review of Current Methodology

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively common disorder among children and adolescents, and is associated with increased risk for concurrent and future distress and impairment. Many youth who suffer from OCD go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and do not attain appropriate treatment in a timely manner. As a result, researchers have focused greater attention to the assessment of pediatric OCD. This paper provides an overview of recent advances in this area, including an introduction to several new assessment instruments. Descriptions of new and commonly used instruments and their clinical/research utility are described. Psychometric properties are also reported. Finally, a critical review is offered of major trends in the assessment of pediatric OCD (e.g., diagnostic interviews, self-report and parent-report measures, and clinician-administered inventories).

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents

“…It involves two subscales for Obsessions Severity and Compulsions Severity, and total score is estimating with these two subscales [65,66]. Also there are some other assessment tools like the Children's Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (C-FOCI), Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version, the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child and Parent Version (ADIS-C/P) which could be used for OCD assessment in pediatric population [67][68][69].…”

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) In Childhood and Adolescence

“…The assessment and diagnosis of pediatric OCD is challenging due to considerable symptom overlap between OCD and other psychologic disorders such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), AutismSpectrum Disorders (ASD), and Tourette's Disorder [18]. One of the most widely used clinician administered assessment tool available for pediatric OCD is the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) [19] consisting of 2 subscales-Obsessions Severity (5 items) and Compulsions Severity (5 items) which are combined to create a Total Score.…”

“…One of the most widely used clinician administered assessment tool available for pediatric OCD is the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) [19] consisting of 2 subscales-Obsessions Severity (5 items) and Compulsions Severity (5 items) which are combined to create a Total Score. The CY-BOCS is the most commonly used measure of pediatric OCD severity, and is often referred to as the 'gold standard' measure in this area [18]. Child or parent reported inventories for pediatric OCD are also available such as the Children's Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (C-FOCI) [20] with 17 self-report items and the 44 items, Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version [21].…”

Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

“…Unstructured clinical interviews, structured interviews, self-report measures, clinician rating scales, and parent and teacher report measures have all been used to gather information related to OCD in children (see Merlo, Storch, Murphy, Goodman, & Geffken, 2005, for a review). Examples of structured interviews are the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (Shaffer et al, 1993), the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (Kaufman, Birmaher, Brent, Rao, & Ryan, 1997), and the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child Version (Silverman & Albano, 1996).…”