Citation

Mathews CA, Kaur N, Stein MB. Depress. Anxiety 2008; 25(9): 742-751.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0894, USA. cmathews@lppi.ucsf.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/da.20316

PMID

17557315

Abstract

Childhood trauma is known to predispose to a variety of psychiatric disorders, including mood, anxiety, eating, and personality disorders. However, the relationship between childhood trauma and obsessive-compulsive symptoms has not been well studied. This study examines the relationship between childhood trauma, personality facets, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in 938 college students using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Leyton Obsessional Inventory, and the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. Between 13 and 30% of subjects met criteria for childhood trauma, with emotional neglect the most commonly reported experience. There was a small but significant association between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and childhood trauma, specifically emotional abuse and physical neglect, all of which was accounted for by co-occurring anxiety symptoms. An independent association was also seen between emotional abuse, physical abuse, and high levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms ("probable obsessive-compulsive disorder"), which remained significant in the context of co-occurring anxiety symptoms. A similar association was seen between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and conscientiousness, and between emotional neglect and sexual abuse and conscientiousness, suggesting that an indirect role for childhood trauma in the development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms may also exist.

Language: en