Family distress and involvement in relatives of obsessive-compulsive disorder patients

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) affects the lives of patients as well a s their relatives. Calvocoressi et al. (1995) suggested that accommodation (e.g., participating in the patient's rituals) by relatives of patients wit h OCD was related to global family dysfunction and distress. These investig ators did not, however, examine the relationship between family accommodati on and severity of the patients' OCD symptoms. In the present study we exam ined the relationship between families' reactions to the patient's illness (e.g., assistance with rituals, modification of family routine, rejection o f the patient, etc.) and the patient's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scal e (Y-BOCS) score and Hamilton Depression scale ratings. We also examined th e effects of family accommodation and rejection on treatment outcome. Resul ts revealed that family distress, accommodation, and rejection were related to depression and anxiety in the family members, but not to severity of th e patients' OCD. At posttreatment. family accommodation and modification of routine was related to the severity of patients' OCD. These results remain ed significant when the effect of pretreatment OCD severity was partialled out. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.