%0 Journal Article
%T Perceived Stress in Obsessive每Compulsive Disorder is Related with Obsessive but Not Compulsive Symptoms
%A P. Morgado
%A D. Freitas
%A J. M. Bessa
%A N. Sousa
%A Joˋo Jos谷 Cerqueira
%J Frontiers in Psychiatry
%D 2013
%I Frontiers Media
%R 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00021
%X Obsessive每compulsive disorder (OCD) is achronic psychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts and/or repetitive compulsory behaviors. This psychiatric disorder is known to be stress responsive, as symptoms increase during periods of stress but also because stressful events may precede the onset of OCD. However, only a few and inconsistent reports have been published about the stress perception and the stress-response in these patients. Herein, we have characterized the correlations of OCD symptoms with basal serum cortisol levels and scores in a stress perceived questionnaire (PSS-10). The present data reveals that cortisol levels and the stress scores in the PSS-10 were significantly higher in OCD patients that in controls. Moreover, stress levels self-reported by patients using the PSS-10 correlated positively with OCD severity in the Yale每Brown Obsessive每Compulsive Scale (Y每BOCS). Interestingly, PSS-10 scores correlated with the obsessive component, but not with the compulsive component, of Y每BOCS. These results confirm that stress is relevant in the context of OCD, particularly for the obsessive symptomatology.
%K obsessive每compulsive disorder
%K stress
%K cortisol
%K Y每BOCS
%K PSS-10
%U http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00021/abstract