Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of obsessive-
compulsive symptoms in a population of Italian adolescents.
Method: A sample of 2877 high-school students, 1463 males (51%) and 1414 fe
males (49%), aged 16-21 years were assessed with the Leyton Obsessional Inv
entory - Child Version (LOI-CV). Two groups of subjects were defined as 'po
sitive' on the screen: the high interference (HI) (i.e. all subjects who sc
ored 25 or more in the interference score), and the supernormals (Sn).
Results: Females scored higher than males both on yes and interference scor
es. One hundred and nineteen (4.1%) and 87 (3.0%) constitute, respectively,
the HI and the Sn groups. The most interfering symptoms were obsessions li
nked to dirt phobia, rumination and nail biting.
Conclusion: The prevalence estimates of OCD symptoms confirmed the recent d
ata of the literature that adolescent OCD symptoms are more frequent than w
as believed previously. Females showed more symptoms and more interference
on personal functioning than males.