Developmental Considerations in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Comparing Pediatric and Adult-Onset Cases

Summary & key facts

This paper looks at how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can start at different ages. Researchers reviewed studies that compare cases that begin in childhood with cases that begin in early adulthood. They found two main age peaks for new cases, evidence that early-onset OCD may be a distinct form tied to family history and biological markers, and reasons why spotting and treating OCD early in young people matters for school, social life, and long-term functioning.

Key facts:

• New cases of OCD most often begin in youth, with one peak before adolescence and another peak in early adulthood.
• As more people develop OCD over time, the total number of people affected grows, but most people first develop symptoms when they are young.
• Many researchers think early-onset OCD may be a distinct developmental subtype. This idea is supported by clinical signs, family patterns, and biological markers found in studies.
• Cognitive, school, and social development during childhood and adolescence are important to consider when OCD starts early, because the illness can interfere with those tasks.
• Family factors and immune-related inflammatory factors are discussed as possible contributors to early-onset OCD in the reviewed research.
• The authors say finding and treating OCD early in young people is critical to reduce the lasting problems that come from untreated illness, and they call for research and treatments that focus on this age group.

Abstract

There appear to be two peaks of incidence of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), one with a pre-adolescent onset and another in early adulthood. As new cases are added, the cumulative prevalence of OCD increases, but the great majority of cases have an onset in youth. The notion that early onset OCD represents a unique developmental subtype of the disorder has been considered by many researchers based on several specific age-related factors. Ascertainment and early intervention in affected youth is critical to abbreviate the functional impairments associated with untreated illness. In this paper we review the clinical, familial and translational biomarker correlates seen in early onset OCD that support the notion of a developmental subtype and discuss implications for research and treatment aimed at this cohort. The importance of cognitive, academic and social development tasks of childhood and adolescence, illness-specific and familial factors, and immune-mediated inflammatory factors are discussed, with their implications for management.

Topics

Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Eating Disorders and Behaviors Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Age of onset Clinical psychology Cognition Cohort Disease Incidence (geometry) Internal medicine Intervention (counseling) Medicine Obsessive compulsive Optics Pediatrics Physics Psychiatry Psychology

Conditions & symptoms

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder