Cited by 185Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum DisordersAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: A Critical Review of the New Diagnostic Class

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Abramowitz, Jonathan S., Jacoby, Ryan J.·2015·Annual Review of Clinical Psychology

Abstract

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes a new class of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) that includes obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and a handful of other putatively related conditions. Although this new category promises to raise awareness of underrecognized and understudied problems, its empirical validity and practical utility are questionable. This article reviews the phenomenology of OCD and then presents a critical analysis of the arguments underlying the new OCRD class. This analysis leads to a rejection of the OCRD classification on both scientific and logical grounds. The article closes with a discussion of the treatment implications of the OCRDs approach.

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Crossref · 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153713

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  • OCD patients have varying degrees of insight into obsessions and compulsions, with some having good or fair insight, others poor insight, and even absent insight/delusional beliefs.

    “The DSM‐5 includes a specifier about the level of insight into obsessions and compulsions (i.e., awareness of their senselessness); it recognizes that OCD patients have varying degrees of insight, with some patients having good or fair insight whereas others poor insight and even absent insight/delusional beliefs (Abramowitz & Jacoby, 2015).”

    From Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Etiology, neuropathology, and cognitive dysfunction (2023) · cites this paper as Abramowitz & Jacoby, 2015

  • The lack of association of acting with awareness with OCD symptoms may reflect that compulsions in OCD are not best understood as automatic, habitual behaviours carried out with little awareness, but rather as functional behaviours aimed at reducing anxiety.

    “The lack of association possibly reflects that compulsions in OCD are perhaps not best understood as automatic, habitual behaviours carried out with little awareness, but rather as functional behaviours aimed at reducing anxiety (Abramowitz and Jacoby 2015).”

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2 of the 107 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Arbabi M, Farnia V, Balighi K, Mohammadi MR, Nejati-Safa AA, et al. 2008. Efficacy of citalopram in treatment of pathological skin picking, a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. Acta Med. Iran. 46(5):367-72
  2. Denys D, Fineberg N, Carey PC, Stein DJ. 2008. Reply. Biol. Psychiatry 63(1):e7
  3. Foa EB, Kozak MJ, Goodman WK, Hollander E, Jenike MA, Rasmussen SA. 1995. DSM-IV field trial: obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am. J. Psychiatry 152(1):90-96
  4. Hollander E, Evers M. 2004. Review of obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders: What do we know? Where are we going? Clin. Neuropsychiatry 1(1):32-51
  5. A Theory of States and Traits-Revised Rolf Steyer, Axel Mayer, Christian Geiser, and David A. Cole p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p71 Biological and Psychosocial Predictors of Postpartum Depression: Systematic Review and Call for Integration
  6. Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: A Critical Review of the New Diagnostic Class

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Authors
Abramowitz, J. S., & Jacoby, R. J.
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Venue
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
Published
2015-03-28
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
165-186
ISSN
  • 1548-5943 (ISSN-L)
  • 1548-5951
OpenAlex
W2137719365
Cited by
185
References
107
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 4
FWCI
2.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annual Review of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, DSM-5, psychiatric classification, diagnostic validity, therapeutic implications
MeSH terms
Hoarding Disorder, Humans, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Trichotillomania, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Body Dysmorphic Disorders

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