The Influence of Obsessive Compulsive (OC) Behaviors on School Functioning and Help Seeking Intentions of High School Students
Open Access
- Author:
- Pertuit, Terry Lynn
- Graduate Program:
- Counselor Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Education
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 24, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Jerry G Trusty, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jerry G Trusty, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Brandon B Hunt, Committee Member
Jolynn Carney, Committee Member
Robert James Stevens, Committee Member - Keywords:
- obsessive compulsive behaiors
obsessive compulsive functional impairment
obsessive compulsiveness and help-seeking - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively common disorder among adolescents with lifetime prevalence rates between 2-4% (Rapaport & Inoff-Germain, 2000). Like symptoms of anxiety, obsessive compulsive symptoms are also present to some degree in most people. Epidemiologic studies have consistently shown that .7-19% of the general population, world-wide, meet diagnostic criteria for obsessions and/or compulsions (Apter et al., 1996; Valleni-Basile et al., 1994; 1996; Zohar et al., 1992). Yet, there has been little systematic investigation of the presentation of adolescent OC behavior in the school settings and very little is known about how varying degrees of obsessive compulsive traits affect psychosocial functioning of school-aged youth. In addition, research has also suggested that people who experience obsessions and compulsions and that young people in general, rarely seek professional mental health services to relieve their obsessive compulsive symptoms. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of OC behaviors on school functioning and help seeking practices in a general population of high school students. Participants included 1,098 high school students, ranging in age 13-20 years. The findings from these data suggest that a majority of adolescents in a large suburban high school experience obsessive compulsive behaviors. The results of this investigation parallel clinical observations in that obsessive compulsiveness is associated with significant and relatively pervasive impairments in functioning and influence help seeking behaviors of non-referred youth (Goodwin, Koenen, Hellman, Guardino, & Struening, 2002; Placentini, Bergman, Keller, & Mc Cracken, 2003; Valderhaug, & Ivansson, 2005). Implications of findings, study limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.