Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Mar;108(1-3):170-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2008.11.023. Epub 2008 Dec 20.

Obsessive compulsive symptoms in the psychosis prodrome: correlates of clinical and functional outcome

Tara A Niendam  1 , Jodi Berzak, Tyrone D Cannon, Carrie E Bearden
Affiliations

Obsessive compulsive symptoms in the psychosis prodrome: correlates of clinical and functional outcome

Tara A Niendam et al. Schizophr Res. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common co-morbid condition in schizophrenia, associated with poor prognosis. However, the prevalence of obsessive compulsive symptomatology (OCS) and its relationship to outcome has not been evaluated in adolescents at ultra high-risk for psychosis (UHR).

Methods: Sixty-four UHR and 26 non-prodromal comparison (NPC) youth were ascertained using the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS). Participants completed diagnostic interviews and the Padua Inventory (Sanavio, E., 1988. Obsessions and compulsions: the Padua Inventory. Behav. Res. Ther. 26, 169-177.), a self-report measure of OCS.

Results: UHR youth reported significantly higher rates of OCS on the Padua Inventory compared to NPC youth. Clinical diagnosis of OCD (20% of sample) was associated with lower risk of conversion to psychosis over the follow-up period, but was unrelated to clinical severity or psychosocial functioning. However, dimensional ratings of OCS were significantly associated with positive symptom severity, self-reported depression, and a trend toward increased suicidal ideation within the UHR sample.

Conclusions: OCS rates in UHR youth are well above estimated prevalence rates in normal populations, and commensurate with rates of comorbidity observed in schizophrenia. Although clinical diagnosis of OCD was not associated with later conversion to psychosis, OCS severity in UHR youth was associated with more acute symptomatic presentation, including more severe depression and suicidality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participants’ mean (± SE mean) scores on the Padua Inventory according to diagnostic group. [* p<0.01, ** p<0.001]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychological Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4. American Psychiatric Press; Washington, DC: 1994.
    1. Auther AM, Smith CW, Cornblatt BA. Global Functioning: Social scale (GFS) Zucker Hillside Hospital; Glen Oaks, NY: 2006.
    1. Beck AT, Epstein N, Brown G, Steer RA. An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1988;56:893–897. - PubMed
    1. Berman I, Merson A, Viegner B, Losonczy MF, Pappas D, Green AI. Obsessions and compulsions as a distinct cluster of symptoms in schizophrenia: a neuropsychological study. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1998;186:150–156. - PubMed
    1. Bermanzohn PC. Prevalence and Prognosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Phenomena in Schizophrenia: A Critical View. Psychiatr Ann. 1999;29:508–512.

Publication types