Autistic Traits In Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder.
Bejerot S, Nylander L, Lindstrom E.
Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, University
Hospital, Uppsala,
Sweden.
In contrast to other non-psychotic psychiatric
populations, subjects
with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are more
prone to have
personality disorder from cluster A (the odd and
eccentric cluster).
The present study aims at further investigating
the relationship
between these and other personality traits in
OCD subjects and their
relation to high functioning autism (HFA) and
Asperger disorder.
Sixty-four subjects with OCD were included. Personality
traits were assessed with the Karolinska Scales
of Personality (KSP), and personality disorders
with
DSM-adapted questionnaires.
In addition, autistic traits were assessed in
29 videotaped subjects,
by 3 independent raters. Twenty percent of the
subjects with OCD were
identified as also having autistic traits. These
subjects scored higher on
KSP scales measuring muscular tension, psychasthenia,
and inhibition of
aggression and lower on socialization as compared
with OCD subjects
without autistic traits.
Additionally, subjects with autistic traits fulfilled
criteria for anxious personality disorders and
paranoid personalitym disorders significantly
more often than subjects without autistic traits.
We propose that OCD is often related to HFA and
Asperger disorder.
Self-report questionnaires may be useful in establishing
the diagnosis.
However, those with the most obvious autistic
features seem to be less
able to identify these traits in themselves.
PMID: 11827611 [PubMed - in process]
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