Paternal overprotection in obsessive‐compulsive disorder and depression with obsessive traits

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that a parental rearing style showing a low level of care on the parental bonding instrument (PBI) is a risk factor for depression, and that there is a relationship between the overprotective rearing style on the PBI and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, there is no study on the parental rearing attitudes in depressive patients divided into two groups based on their obsessive traits. In this study, we evaluated the parental rearing attitudes and examined the differences among four groups: depressive patients with severe obsessive traits, depressive patients with mild obsessive traits, OCD patients, and healthy volunteers. We divided the depressive patients into severe and mild groups based on their obsessive traits on the Mausdley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI). We compared PBI scores among four groups of 50 subjects matched for age and sex: depressive patients with severe obsessive traits, depressive patients with mild obsessive traits, OCD patients, and healthy volunteers. The paternal protection scores in the depressive patients with severely obsessive traits and the OCD patients were significantly higher than those in the depressive patients with mildly obsessive traits and healthy volunteers. This study indicated that the depressive patients with severe obsessive traits and the OCD patients have similar paternal controlling and interfering rearing attitudes. We conclude that the paternal controlling and interfering rearing attitudes are linked to the development of OCD and depression with obsessive traits, and are not linked to the development of depression itself.

The role of depression in perceived parenting style among patients with anxiety disorders

“…These results have been further supported by later studies investigating perceived parenting in individuals with anxiety disorders (Silove, Parker, Hadzi-Pavlovic, & Manicavasagar, 1991;Wilborg & Dahl, 1997). However, some of these studies only found differences between participants with anxiety disorders and healthy controls on either the care (Alonso et al, 2004;Pacchierotti et al, 2002) or the control dimension (Hafner, 1988;Turgeon, O'Connor, Marchand, & Freeston, 2002;Yoshida, Taga, Matsumoto, & Fukui, 2005). Recent large-scale epidemiological surveys, using either a full or an abbreviated version of the PBI, have further supported the assumption that adults' retrospective reports of lack of parental care are more consistently associated with both mood and anxiety disorders than parental control.…”

Clinical Correlates of Comorbid Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder and Depression in Youth

“…Family environment and parenting practices, including overprotection, high levels of parental control, rejection, and a lack of parental warmth, have been reported in youth with OCD [17,18]. Similar family characteristics have been reported in youth with depression.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) in Cypriot Children and Adolescents

“…This finding was similar to our recent study [24], indicating that OCD symptoms in Cyprus were significantly higher relative to other European countries. There is no clear explanation for this finding although it could be related to Cypriot's over-controlling parental child-rearing practices [48] and excessive fear of contamination. Additionally, individual characteristics [e.g., perfectionism; 49] and strong religious culture [48] could explain this heightened OCD.…”

“…There is no clear explanation for this finding although it could be related to Cypriot's over-controlling parental child-rearing practices [48] and excessive fear of contamination. Additionally, individual characteristics [e.g., perfectionism; 49] and strong religious culture [48] could explain this heightened OCD. Alternatively it could be that the items of the Greek translation of SCAS that tap OCD might have been viewed by the Greek Cypriot children as more socially acceptable relative to the items that tap the other scales.…”