Empirical findings suggest that there is an overlap between schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These disorders also have a high comorbidity rate. However, little is known about the impact of co-occurring schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits on executive function, emotion experience, and emotion expressivity in the normal population. The present study examined the prevalence of coexisting schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits and the relationship between these two traits in a sample of healthy college students. We also conducted a moderation analysis to explore the effect of these two type of traits on executive function, emotion experience, and emotion expressivity. We recruited 3,319 participants to complete the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R). A subset of them (n = 575) also completed the Chinese versions of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX), the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS), and the Emotional Expressivity Scale (EES). We found that the prevalence of co-occurring schizotypal and OCD traits was 3.33%. All the subscales of the SPQ and the OCI-R significantly correlated with each other. Both traits had a negative impact on executive function and emotion expressivity. The interaction between the disorganization dimension of schizotypal traits and OCD traits had a significant effect on executive function, but not emotion experience or emotion expressivity. This study was limited by its cross-sectional design and recruitment of only college students. These findings suggest that there is an approximately 3% rate of co-occurring schizotypal and obsessive-compulsive traits in a healthy college student sample. The interaction between these two types of traits may influence executive function.
Background: Although brain structural changes have been reported in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), results from previous studies have been inconsistent. A growing number of studies have focused on obsessive beliefs and impulsivity which could be involved in the occurrence and maintenance of OCD symptoms. The present study aimed to examine whether there are distinct brain structural changes in patients with different OCD subgroups. Methods: Eighty-nine patients with OCD and 42 healthy controls were recruited to undergo structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scan. OCD patients were classified into subgroups according to scores of the Obsessive Belief Questionnaire (OBQ-44) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) using cluster analysis. Group comparisons in cortical thickness and subcortical volumes between all OCD patients and healthy controls, as well as between subgroups of OCD patients and healthy controls, were carried out. Results: OCD patients with more obsessive beliefs and attentional impulsivity (OCD_OB_AT) had reduced cortical thickness at the inferior parietal gyrus, the superior and middle temporal gyrus and the insula compared with OCD patients with higher score on the non-planning impulsivity (OCD_NP, corrected p < 0.05). The whole group of OCD patients and both subgroups showed reduced cortical thickness at the superior parietal gyrus compared with controls (uncorrected p < 0.01, number of vertices > 100). Conclusion: Our results suggest that apart from distinct phenomenology, there are distinct neural correlates of different OCD subgroups based on obsessive beliefs and impulsivity. These neural correlates may have clinical significance and should be considered in future research.
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