COMPULSIONS IN ADULTS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION - PREVALENCE, PHENOMENOLOGY, AND COMORBIDITY WITH STEREOTYPY AND SELF-INJURY

A variety of conceptual similarities between compulsions seen in indiv iduals with obsessive compulsive disorder and stereotypy and self-inju ry seen in individuals with mental retardation led us to investigate t he prevalence, phenomenology, and comorbidity of compulsions in adults with severe or profound mental retardation. We developed simple asses sment screening instruments for stereotypy and self-injury and used Ge dye's Compulsive Behavior Checklist and found acceptable levels of rel iability, stability, and validity for each instrument, Prevalences wer e as follows: stereotypy: 60.9%; self-injury: 46.6%; and compulsion: 4 0%, The occurrence of compulsions was significantly positively associa ted with the occurrence of stereotypy, self-injury, and stereotypy plu s self-injury.