Background
Identification of familial, more homogenous characteristics of obsessive–compulsive
disorder (OCD) may help to define relevant subtypes and increase the power of genetic
and neurobiological studies of OCD. While factor-analytic studies have found consistent,
clinically meaningful OCD symptom dimensions, there have been only limited attempts
to evaluate the familiality and potential genetic basis of such dimensions.
Methods
Four hundred eighteen sibling pairs with OCD were evaluated using the Structured Clinical
Interview for DSM-IV and the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) Symptom
Checklist and Severity scales.
Results
After controlling for sex, age, and age of onset, robust sib–sib intraclass correlations
were found for two of the four YBOCS factors: Factor IV (hoarding obsessions and compulsions
(p = .001) and Factor I (aggressive, sexual, and religious obsessions, and checking
compulsions; p = .002). Smaller, but still significant, familiality was found for
Factor III (contamination/cleaning; p = .02) and Factor II (symmetry/ordering/arranging;
p = .04). Limiting the sample to female subjects more than doubled the familiality
estimates for Factor II (p = .003). Among potentially relevant comorbid conditions
for genetic studies, bipolar I/II and major depressive disorder were strongly associated
with Factor I (p < .001), whereas ADHD, alcohol dependence, and bulimia were associated
with Factor II (p < .01).
Conclusions
Factor-analyzed OCD symptom dimensions in sibling pairs with OCD are familial with
some gender-dependence, exhibit relatively specific relationships to comorbid psychiatric
disorders and thus may be useful as refined phenotypes for molecular genetic studies
of OCD.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 10, 2006
Accepted:
May 23,
2006
Received in revised form:
May 17,
2006
Received:
February 27,
2006
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
