Life events and personality factors in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2004.02.010

Comprehensive Psychiatry

Volume 45, Issue 3, May–June 2004, Pages 192-198

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2004.02.010 Get rights and content

Abstract

The association among life events, personality factors, and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents was assessed in 28 children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 28 children with other anxiety disorders (AD), and 24 normal controls using the Life Events Checklist (LEC) and the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI). No significant differences were found among the groups for demographic and clinical characteristics. Children with OCD had significantly more total life events and more negative life events in the year before onset than normal controls, and they perceived the life events as having more impact. Scores for children with other AD fell between the other two groups for most of the life event parameters. The only specific life event that distinguished children with AD from normal controls was major illness or injury of a relative. High anxiety levels and older age—but not depression level—predicted a greater perceived impact of life events. Children with OCD and other AD both scored higher than normal controls on the harm avoidance parameter of the JTCI. Harm avoidance scores correlated positively and significantly with the reported occurrence of negative life events and their perceived impact. Thus, quantity, quality, and specificity of life events may be associated with AD in young people, especially OCD. This association may be related to the personality characteristic of harm avoidance.

Section snippets

Subjects

Fifty-six consecutive referrals to the Anxiety Disorder Clinic at a university-affiliated hospital were included in the study. Twenty-eight subjects had a primary diagnosis of OCD and 28 had a primary diagnosis of other AD. The latter included generalized anxiety disorder in 11 patients (39%), social phobia in 10 (36%), specific phobias in six (21%), and panic disorder in one (4%). The normal control group consisted of 24 subjects recruited by advertisement from the hospital catchment area.

The

Results

The demographic and clinical characteristics of the three groups are shown on Table 1. There were no significant differences in mean age, gender distribution, socioeconomic status, and age of onset of the primary anxiety disorder. Both the OCD and other AD group showed a high comorbidity with other AD.

Our first hypothesis that children with AD (OCD and other AD) have more life events than normal controls was partially supported (Table 2). Children with OCD had significantly more total life

Discussion

Few studies have been conducted on life events in children with AD. According to our sample, the general quantitative, general qualitative, and specific qualitative theories of life events all apply. Interestingly, they seem to be more valid for patients with OCD than for those with other AD. Regarding the general quantitative and qualitative differences, total life events and negative life events (SLE) (both lifetime and 1 year prior to onset of the disorder) were significantly more common in

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Life events and personality factors in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders

Abstract

Section snippets

Subjects

Results

Discussion

J Psychosom Res

Compr Psychiatry

J Anxiety Disord

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Psychiatry Res

J Affect Disord

Biol Psychol

Compr Psychiatry

Compr Psychiatry

Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry

J Affect Disord

Life events, social support and illness

Psychosom Med

The role of stressors and psychosocial variables in the stress processa study of chronic caregiver stress

Psychosom Med

Life events and the onset of panic disorder

Am J Psychiatry

Life events in childhood, adolescence and adulthood and the relationship to panic disorder

Acta Psychiatr Scand

Stress and the onset of agoraphobia

Aust Psychol

Life events and personality traits in obsessive compulsive neurosis

Br J Psychiatry

Types of stressful life event and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders

Psychol Med