Lochner Christine, du Toit Pieter L, Zungu-Dirwayi Nompumelelo, Marais Adele, van Kradenburg Jeanine, Seedat Soraya, Niehaus Dana J H, Stein Dan J
MRC Unit on Stress and Anxiety Disorders, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, Cape Town, South Africa.
Depress Anxiety. 2002;15(2):66-8. doi: 10.1002/da.10028.
There is relatively little data on the link between childhood trauma and obsessive-compulsive/putative obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. The revised Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which assesses physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as physical and emotional neglect, was administered to female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; n = 74; age: 36.1 plus minus 16.3), TTM (n = 36; age: 31.8 plus minus 12.3), and a group of normal controls (n = 31; age: 21.5 plus minus 1.0). The findings showed a significantly greater severity of childhood trauma in general, and emotional neglect specifically, in the patient groups compared to the controls. Although various factors may play a role in the etiology of both OCD and trichotillomania (TTM), this study is consistent with some evidence from previous studies suggesting that childhood trauma may play a role in the development of these disorders.
