Idiosyncratic severity profiles of obsessive compulsive dysfunction: A detailed self report assessment of a multifaceted syndrome

In this paper we present an assessment method designed to detect specific individual severity profiles of obsessive-compulsive areas of dysfunction. This method is based on the Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms Rating Scale (OCSRS; Wilhelm and Steketee 2006), a comprehensive self-report instrument that measures the severity of a wide variety of symptom categories associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). A total of 127 patients diagnosed with OCD completed the OCSRS and other measures of OCD, anxiety, and depression. Statistical analyses confirmed the convergent and discriminant validity of the OCSRS symptom categories, and indicated that each of these symptom clusters contains internallyconsistent symptoms that can be meaningfully measured by a single severity score. Additional analyses demonstrated the clinical utility of this fine-grained severity assessment of OCD. The findings indicate that the severity profile of the OCSRS provides unique information that may be useful for a variety of research and clinical purposes.