Quality of Life in Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Role of Moderating and Mediating Variables

• Main Author: Speisman, Brittany Belle
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholar Commons 2012
• Subjects: Anxiety; Assessment; Depression; Functional Impairment; Treatment; American Studies; Arts and Humanities; Clinical Psychology
• Online Access: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4227; http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5423&context=etd

Background: This study examined the contribution of various aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) on quality of life (QoL) in 102 adults with a principal diagnosis of OCD from an archival database. Method: Participants were assessed for DSM-IV diagnoses by trained clinicians using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule, 4th Edition (ADIS-IV), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and an unstructured interview. Further information was attained using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory Revised (OCI-R) and the Medical Outcome Study-36 (MOS-36). Results: Results indicated that obsessive-compulsive symptom severity was positively correlated with diminished emotional health, social functioning and general health QoL, but not physical health QoL. Main effects were found for depression severity, the presence or absence of comorbid major depressive disorder and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and QoL. Mediational analyses indicated that interference of obsessive-compulsive symptoms on the Y-BOCS mediated the relationship between obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and social functioning, emotional health and general health QoL. Mediational analyses further revealed that resistance to obsessive-compulsive symptoms on the Y-BOCS was a mediator between obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and social functioning QoL. Further analyses explained the role of each mediator in the relationship between obsessive-compulsive symptom severity and social functioning QoL. Across symptom dimensions, persons with OCD had a largely impacted QoL within multiple domains. Conclusions: Diminished QoL is common in persons with OCD and is essential in understanding the complete clinical picture of OCD. Results are discussed in terms of implications for assessment, treatment and future research.