Predictors of the length of stay in a psychiatric emergency care centre.

Objective: This paper aims to ascertain predictors of the length of stay in a Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre (PECC).

Methods: Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded retrospectively via file audit in 477 patients who were admitted to a PECC within a six-month period. Associations between these variables and length of stay were analysed using logistic regression.

Further support for five dimensions of obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Attempts to explain the phenotypic heterogeneity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have resulted in three to six OCD symptom dimensions. This study aimed to clarify the nature of these symptom dimensions using a self-report instrument (Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory [VOCI]) in addition to the clinician-rated Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Symptom Checklist (YBOCS-SC). Participants (N = 154) were recruited to a study designed to specifically assess OCD symptom dimensions.

The characteristics of unacceptable/taboo thoughts in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: In the quest to unravel the heterogeneity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), an increasing number of factor analytic studies are recognising unacceptable/taboo thoughts as one of the symptom dimensions of OCD.

Aims: This study aims to examine the characteristics associated with unacceptable/taboo thoughts.

Methods: Using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist (YBOCS-SC) with 154 individuals with OCD, obsessive-compulsive symptoms were subjected to principal components analysis.

The use of psychotropic agents for the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objective: To describe the use of psychotropic agents in a sample of subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and in particular the differences associated with different OCD symptoms.

Method: A total of 154 subjects participated in a study assessing OCD symptom subtypes, called the Nepean OCD Study. In addition to a comprehensive evaluation of the subjects' OCD symptoms using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Vancouver Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI), and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), the subjects' medication history was recorded.

Interpersonal reassurance seeking in obsessive-compulsive disorder and its relationship with checking compulsions.

This study aimed to examine interpersonal reassurance seeking (IRS) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the relationship between IRS and checking compulsions. One hundred and forty adults with OCD underwent a comprehensive assessment, which included obtaining information on seeking reassurance from others because of their obsessions. Sixty-seven (47.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder co-occurring with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Conceptual and clinical implications.

Objectives: There are ongoing uncertainties in the relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). This study aimed to test the proposition that OCPD may be a marker of severity of OCD by comparing groups of OCD individuals with and without OCPD on a number of variables.

Method: A total of 148 adults with a principal diagnosis of OCD were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Sheehan Disability Scale, Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised.

Disgust propensity in obsessive-compulsive disorder: cross-sectional and prospective relationships.

Background And Objectives: Findings from non-clinical samples suggest that disgust propensity is associated with contamination concerns in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, studies of clinical samples have yielded conflicting results. We investigated the relationship between disgust propensity and OCD symptoms in a clinical sample and examined whether changes in disgust propensity are associated with changes in OCD symptoms.

Can levels of a general anxiety-prone cognitive style distinguish between various anxiety disorders?

Background: The question of whether certain anxiety disorders are especially related to a cognitive style characterized by an exaggerated perception of threat and appraisal of the future as excessively unpredictable (general anxiety-prone cognitive style) remains open.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare patients with generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA), and panic disorder without agoraphobia (PD) in terms of the levels of general anxiety-prone cognitive style when the severity of general distress and psychopathology is controlled for and to ascertain whether a co-occurring depressive disorder contributes substantially to the levels of this cognitive style.

Methods: The Anxious Thoughts and Tendencies Scale, a measure of a general anxiety-prone cognitive style, and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised were administered to 204 patients with various anxiety disorders who attended an outpatient anxiety disorders clinic and were diagnosed based on a semistructured diagnostic interview.

The nature and correlates of avoidance in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objectives: Avoidance in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been neglected by research. This study aimed (i) to collect information on the nature and frequency of avoidance in people with OCD and ascertain the types of obsessions related to avoidance; (ii) compare OCD individuals with and without avoidance, and (iii) determine predictors of avoidance in people with OCD.

Method: A total of 124 OCD adults underwent a comprehensive assessment.

Functions of compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objectives: The key function of compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is to alleviate anxiety or distress caused by the obsessions, but compulsions may also have other functions. The main aim of this study was to systematically ascertain what motivates individuals with OCD to perform compulsions.

Method: A total of 108 adults with OCD were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Functions of Compulsions Interview.

Obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders: a comorbidity and family history perspective.

Objective: The concept of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders (OCSDs) has become so influential that there are proposals to introduce it into new diagnostic classificatory systems. The aim of this paper was to assess whether rates of comorbidity and family history of OCSDs in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) supported this concept.

Method: Comorbidity and family history were assessed in a group of participants with a primary diagnosis of OCD, using structured clinical interviews.

The factor structure of the Kessler-10 questionnaire in a treatment-seeking sample.

The Kessler-10 (K10) questionnaire was developed as a screening instrument for nonspecific psychological distress. Although it was validated using epidemiological samples, it is increasingly being used in clinical settings. We sought to determine whether the factor structure of the K10 as established in epidemiological samples, could be replicated in a sample of treatment seeking adults.

Preliminary validation of an ultra-brief version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire.

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is widely regarded as the gold standard self-report questionnaire for pathological worry. However, the factorial structure of the scale remains contentious. We sought to determine whether a psychometrically sound brief version of the PSWQ, which avoids contentious items and yet incorporates the essential features of pathological worry, could be derived from the existing PSWQ item pool.

Characteristics of admissions to a recently opened Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre.

Objective: The Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre (PECC) is a relatively recent service development that aims to improve emergency care of psychiatric patients. The goal of this paper was to report on the characteristics of admissions to a recently established PECC.

Method: Several key characteristics of admissions to the PECC were documented for each of 376 patients in the first 6 months of its operation.