OBSESSIVE DISORDER IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A REVIEW
Sue, Sue and Sue (1994) define Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as behavior characterized by obsessions (intrusive, repetitive thoughts or images that produce anxiety) or compulsions (the need to perform acts or thoughts to reduce the anxiety). According to the authors, obsessions and compulsions can and often do occur together.
In the review of literature presented here, the literature on OCD in children and adolescents is described and discussed. The presented review emphasizes three areas of the existing research. These are: (1) identification of OCD symptoms in children and adolescents; (2) the role of the family in intervention; and (3) available treatments.
According to Kauffman (1993), OCD in children and adolescents is under-researched, partially because of complications identifying symptoms. In this regard, Kauffman reports that identification is difficult because the obsessive-compulsive and ritualistic behavior of children associated with OCD is complicated by its close relationship to phobic behavior as well as to the excessive self-stimulation and fantasy characteristic of the profoundly disturbed (psychotic) child.
Complications involving the identification of OCD in children and adolescents is serious because, as noted by King, Ollendick, and Montgomery (1995), the degree of success in treatment is often dependent upon its early identification. In other words, the longer the condition remains unchecked, the lower the likelihood that the disorder will be corrected to any significant extent.
Garrison, Valleni-Basile, Jackson and Waller (1995) discussed the prevalence and the symptoms associated with OCD in children and adolescents based on calculation of population parameters from their sample. Prevalency rates, (in their sample of 3,283 adolescents, and 488 children), were found to be 3 percent and 19 percent respectively. Prevalence...