Hoarding Behaviour in an Italian Non-Clinical Sample

Background: Hoarding is associated with significant impairment. Although traditionally considered as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), some authors have proposed that pathological hoarding could be considered as a stand alone condition. The prevalence of pathological hoarding behaviour has been shown to be high in some countries, but little is known about the prevalence and correlates of hoarding in the non-clinical population in Italy. Method: We studied the prevalence of self-reported hoarding behaviour using the Italian version of the Saving Inventory-Revised, as well as the association between hoarding and various clinical correlates, including obsessive-compulsive symptoms, compulsive buying, anxiety, and depression. Results: The prevalence of pathological hoarding behaviour in two studies was between 3.7 and 6.0%. No differences were found between hoarding and non-hoarding participants with regard to gender, age, marital status, level of education, and employment status. Significant correlations were found between compulsive hoarding and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and also between hoarding and a measure of compulsive buying, even after controlling for anxiety and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These results indicate that pathological hoarding may also be prevalent in Italy and highlight the need for further epidemiological studies using validated instruments to assess hoarding disorder

The role of metacognitive beliefs in health anxiety

Research has supported the specific role that anxiety sensitivity and health-related dysfunctional cognitions may have in the development and maintenance of health anxiety symptoms. Recent evidence suggests that metacognitive beliefs may also be instrumental in the symptomatology of health anxiety. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between metacognitive beliefs and health anxiety symptoms and to test whether these beliefs are significant predictors of health anxiety after controlling for anxiety, depression, anxiety sensitivity and dysfunctional beliefs. A series of dimensional self-report measures were administered to a large Italian non-clinical sample (N = 342). At a bivariate level, metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and interference of illness thoughts had a stronger association with health anxiety than any of the dysfunctional beliefs. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and interference of illness thoughts predicted health anxiety symptoms over-and-above depression, general anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and health-related dysfunctional beliefs. Moreover, results from moderation analysis indicated that metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and interference of illness thoughts moderated the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and health anxiety. Overall, this study supported the hypothesis that metacognition may have an important role in health anxiety

The two dimensions of contamination fear in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Harm avoidance and disgust avoidance

Contamination fear has always been considered a homogeneous symptom dimension. Compensatory behaviors (e.g., washing) are considered attempts to remove the contagion and to protect the individual from threats of illness; however, they may also be motivated by feelings of distress that are unrelated to any perceived harmful outcome, such as the feeling of disgust. Our hypothesis was that OCD patients with fear of harm resulting from contamination (harm avoidance [HA]) and OCD patients with fear of disgusting substances/persons (disgust avoidance [DA]) could be distinguished. To test this hypothesis, the Contamination Fear Core Dimensions Scale (CFCDS), an 8-item self-report measure aimed at operazionalizing the two facets of contamination fear, was developed. The scale was administered to 176 Italian OCD patients, together with a series of other self-report measures, and to 86 non-clinical participants. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized two-correlated-factor structure in the clinical sample. The CFCDS also showed adequate reliability, construct and criterion-related validity. In particular, DA and HA subscales showed different patterns of association with other measures. In conclusion, this study provides preliminary evidence of the separability of two motivational dimensions of contamination fear and of specific associations between these and other relevant constructs

Factor Congruence and Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) Across Non-Clinical and Clinical Samples

The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) is a self-report instrument that assesses the severity of the four most empirically supported OC symptom dimensions (Contamination, Responsibility, Unacceptable Thoughts, and Symmetry). The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the DOCS and address associations with socio-demographical variables, psychometric properties in a community (i.e., non-student) sample, and congruence of factor solutions across non-clinical and patient samples. Factor structure, internal consistency, construct, and criterion validity were investigated in three samples of participants (315 from the general population, 106 OCD patients and 31 with other anxiety disorders [OADs]). Results supported the four-factor structure of the DOCS both in clinical and non-clinical sample, and adequate levels of factor congruence across the two samples were found. DOCS scores showed good internal consistency, temporal stability and construct validity, and could adequately discriminate between non-clinical participants, OCD and OADs patients. All the other variables kept constant, associations of DOCS total score with educational level, of Contamination with gender, and of Unacceptable Thoughts with age were also found. These findings suggest that the Italian version of the DOCS retains the adequate psychometric properties of the original, and can be confidently used as an assessment tool of OC symptoms in clinical and research settings

Validation of the Italian version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Second Edition (Y-BOCS-II) in a clinical sample

OBJECTIVE: The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) is the most widely accepted measure of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptom severity. Recently, the scale has been revised into a second edition (Y-BOCS-II) in order to improve its measurement properties. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Y-BOCS-II Severity Scale (SS) in a large clinical sample. METHOD: The original version of the Y-BOCS-II was translated into Italian, which involved forward and back-translation procedures. The Italian Y-BOCS-II-SS was administered to one hundred twenty-five treatment-seeking adults with OCD, together with the original Y-BOCS-SS and a battery of self-report measures assessing OCD symptom severity and depressive and anxious symptomology. The factor structure, internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity were investigated on the whole sample, while inter-rater and test-retest reliability were assessed on a subsample of participants. RESULTS: Factor analyses revealed a two-factor structure different from those of the original scale, comprising (1) symptom severity; and (2) interference from symptoms. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability over a 2-week period and inter-rater reliability were satisfactory. The Y-BOCS-II-SS also showed excellent construct validity (and better than the Y-BOCS-SS), with good convergent and discriminant validity when assessed against other OCD symptom measures and measures of depression, anxiety and worry. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the Italian version of the Y-BOCS-II-SS retains the adequate psychometric properties of the original and that it can be confidently used as an assessment tool of OCD symptoms in both clinical and research settings