Association Between Childhood Maltreatment and Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis.

Previous studies have indicated that childhood maltreatment (CM) may potentially influence the clinical symptomatology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, we aimed to quantify the relationship between CM and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and depressive symptoms in OCD through a meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and PsycARTICLES databases for articles reporting the association between CM and OCD on April 15, 2020. Random-effect models were used to quantify the relationship between CM and the severity of OCS and depressive symptoms in OCD. Ten records with 1,611 OCD patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results revealed that CM is positively correlated with the severity of OCS [ = 0.10, 95%Confidence Interval (CI): 0.01-0.19, = 0.04] as well as depressive symptoms in OCD ( = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.07-0.24, = 0.0002). For the subtypes of CM, childhood emotional abuse (CEA) and childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was related with the severity of OCS ( = 0.11, 95%CI: 0.03-0.19, = 0.009) and obsession ( = 0.13, 95%CI: 0.03-0.23, = 0.01), respectively. Our meta-analysis indicates that OCD patients who suffered more CM may exhibit more severe OCS and depressive symptoms.