Content area
Full Text
(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)
Introduction
Experts have proposed removing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) from the anxiety disorders section and grouping it with putatively related conditions in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) (Hollander et al. 2008); this remains controversial (Storch et al. 2008). Proposed OCD-related conditions include obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), tic disorders, hypochondriasis, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), trichotillomania and other grooming disorders, eating disorders, pathological gambling (PG) and other impulse-control disorders, including substance dependence (Hollander et al. 2008).
OCD is familial (e.g. Pauls et al. 1995; Nestadt et al. 2000; do Rosario-Campos et al. 2005; Fyer et al. 2005; Hanna et al. 2005; Grabe et al. 2006), and this familiality appears mainly due to genetic influences (van Grootheest et al. 2005). Finding that certain conditions are highly co-morbid with and familially related to OCD may suggest a genetic relationship between OCD and these other conditions that could inform nosology. The current study examines how commonly anxiety disorders, related personality disorders and putative 'spectrum' conditions occur in OCD-affected probands and their first-degree relatives, compared with control probands and relatives. A higher prevalence of anxiety disorders and related personality disorders in OCD-affected probands and their relatives would support retention of OCD within the anxiety disorders section in DSM-5. A higher prevalence of putative OCD-related conditions in OCD-affected probands and their relatives would support acknowledgement of 'OCD spectrum conditions' in DSM-5, whether or not OCD is retained in the anxiety disorders section.
Previous controlled OCD co-morbidity and family studies (Black et al. 1992, 1993, 1994; Pauls et al. 1995; Torres & Del Porto, 1995; Bienvenu et al. 2000; Samuels et al. 2000; Grados et al. 2001; Nestadt et al. 2001; Jaisoorya et al. 2003; Carter et al. 2004; do Rosario-Campos et al. 2005; Fyer et al. 2005) are summarized in Table 1. Results of these studies suggest that some anxiety disorders (especially generalized anxiety disorder; GAD) are relatively common in persons with OCD and their first-degree relatives. Cluster C ('anxious cluster') personality disorders (Bienvenu & Stein, 2003), especially OCPD, also appear relatively common in persons with OCD and, perhaps, their first-degree relatives. In addition, tic disorders, hypochondriasis, BDD and 'grooming' disorders [pathological nail biting (PNB), pathological skin picking...