Rates of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in first degree relatives of patients with trichotillomania: a research note.

To explore a possible relationship between trichotillomania, (TTM) (compulsive hair pulling) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), 65 out of 69 (94%) first degree relatives of 16 female probands with severe chronic TTM were compared with two control groups for OCD and for TTM. Three (19%) of the 16 TTM probands had at least one first degree relative with a lifetime history of OCD, and there was an age corrected rate of 6.4% of first degree relatives with OCD. No relative in control group (A) met criteria for OCD. There was a trend (Fishers exact p = .07, two tailed) for a higher rate (age corrected) of OCD in TTM families; these pilot data are consistent with the concept of a spectrum of obsessive compulsive disorders which includes TTM and other pathological grooming behaviours.

Psychiatric disorders in first degree relatives of children and adolescents with obsessive compulsive disorder.

One hundred and forty-five first-degree relatives (89 parents [96%] and 56 siblings [98%]) of 46 children and adolescents with severe primary obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) were personally interviewed with clinical and structured psychiatric interviews. Parent interviews were scored by a rater blind to proband diagnosis. Thirty percent of probands had at least one first-degree relative with OCD: 25% of fathers and 9% of mothers received this diagnosis. Forty-five percent of fathers and 65% of mothers received one or more other psychiatric diagnoses. The increased familial rate of OCD over that expected from a general population, and over that found in parents of conduct disordered patients, is consistent with a genetic factor in OCD. Presenting obsessive compulsive symptoms of probands and their parents were usually dissimilar, arguing against any simple social or cultural transmission.

Clomipramine treatment of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder. A double-blind controlled study.

Nineteen children (mean [+/- SD] age, 14.5 +/- 2.3 years) with severe, primary obsessive-compulsive disorder completed a ten-week, double-blind, controlled trial of clomipramine hydrochloride (mean dosage, 141 mg/day) or placebo, each of which was administered for five weeks. Half of the subjects had not responded to previous treatment with other tricyclic antidepressants. There was a significant improvement in observed and self-reported obsessions and compulsions that was independent of the presence of depressive symptoms at baseline. Improvement in obsessive-compulsive symptoms did not correlate significantly with plasma concentrations of the drug or its metabolites. Clomipramine appears to be effective in the treatment of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the treatment seems to be independent of an antidepressant effect.

A naturalistic assessment of the motor activity of hyperactive boys. I. Comparison with normal controls.

The motor activity of hyperactive and normal boys was studied in 12 age- and classroom-matched pairs. Activity was measured continuously for a one-week period with a portable solid-state monitor. Hyperactives exhibited generally higher levels of motor activity than normal controls regardless of the time of day, including during sleep and on weekends. In a situation-by-situation analysis, hyperactives were most consistently and significantly more active than the controls during structured school activities. Little evidence was found, however, to support the hypothesis that hyperactivity is simply an artifact of the structure and attentional demands of a given setting. Pervasive increases in simple motor behavior are a clear attribute of hyperactive behavior and distinguished hyperactives from controls as well as did a standardized measure of attention.

A family study of schizoaffective, bipolar I, bipolar II, unipolar, and normal control probands.

In a family study of 1,254 adult relatives of patients and controls, lifetime prevalences of major affective disorder (including schizoaffective) were 37%, 24%, 25%, 20% and 7% in relatives of probands with schizoaffective, bipolar I, bipolar II, and unipolar disease, and normal controls. These data were compatible with the different affective disorders representing thresholds on a continuum of underlying multifactorial vulnerability. In this model, schizoaffective illness represents greatest vulnerability, followed by bipolar I and bipolar II, then unipolar illnesses. Alcoholism, drug abuse, and sociopathy were not more frequent in relatives of patients v relatives of controls. Sex-related transmission of morbid risk was not present. Morbid risk was 74% to offspring of two III parents, and 27% to offspring of one III parent. Nationality and age at time of interview seem to be nongenetic factors that affect frequency of diagnosis.

Childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The authors collected clinical diagnostic, neurophysiological, electrophysiological, and biochemical data on 9 adolescents who had primary obsessive-compulsive disorder. The results indicate considerable descriptive validity of the syndrome in childhood and its independence from obsessional traits; however, all of the children had a history of major depressive disorder, and their sleep EEG measures resembled those of young adults with primary depressive disorder. The patients' families did not have a more consistent pattern of anxiety disorder or any other psychiatric disorder than do families of adult obsessive patients. Psycholinguistic test results showed a lack of normal laterality, which has been reported for other psychiatric illness.