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The price of love: an investigation into the relationship between romantic love and the expression of obsessive–compulsive disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2021

James McLauchlan Open the ORCID record for James McLauchlan [Opens in a new window] ,
Emma M. Thompson ,
Ygor A. Ferrão ,
Euripedes C. Miguel ,
Lucy Albertella Open the ORCID record for Lucy Albertella [Opens in a new window] ,
Donatella Marazziti Open the ORCID record for Donatella Marazziti [Opens in a new window]  and
Leonardo F. Fontenelle Open the ORCID record for Leonardo F. Fontenelle [Opens in a new window]
James McLauchlan
Affiliation:
Brain & Mental Health Research Hub, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Emma M. Thompson
Affiliation:
Brain & Mental Health Research Hub, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Ygor A. Ferrão
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, Brazil
Euripedes C. Miguel
Affiliation:
Obsessive–Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Program (PROTOC), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
Lucy Albertella
Affiliation:
Brain & Mental Health Research Hub, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Donatella Marazziti
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Unicamillus—Saint Camillus University of Health Sciences, Roma, Italy
Leonardo F. Fontenelle*
Affiliation:
Brain & Mental Health Research Hub, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia Obsessive–Compulsive Spectrum Disorders Program (PROTOC), Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil Obsessive, Compulsive, and Anxiety Spectrum Research Program, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro & D’Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*
* Author for correspondence: Leonardo F. Fontenelle, MD, PhD [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

The present study explored the influence of romantic love on the expression of several obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) characteristics, including symptom severity, symptom dimensions, age at onset, sensory phenomena (SP), and developmental course, as well as other related comorbid disorders. It was hypothesized that love-precipitated OCD would be associated with a set of distinct characteristics and exhibit greater rates of comorbid disorders.

Methods

The analyses were performed using a large sample (n = 981) of clinical patients with a primary diagnosis of OCD (Females = 67.3%, M age = 35.31).

Results

Love-precipitated OCD was associated with greater severity of SP and later age at onset of obsessions. However, symptom severity, symptom dimension, developmental course, and psychiatric comorbidities were not associated with love-precipitated OCD.

Conclusion

It was concluded that romantic love does shape the expression of OCD, especially with regard to SP and onset age. These findings encourage further exploration to determine its clinical significance as a phenotype.

Keywords

Obsessive-compulsive disorderRomantic loveSensory phenomenaOCD phenotypeOCD suibtypelove-precipitated OCD
Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 27 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 691 - 698
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Donatella Marazziti and Leonardo F. Fontenelle share last authorship.

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