Citation

Jones PJ, Mair P, Riemann BC, Mugno BL, McNally RJ. J. Anxiety Disord. 2017; 53: 1-8.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.09.008

PMID

29125957

Abstract

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD] frequently suffer from depression, a comorbidity associated with greater symptom severity and suicide risk. We examined the associations between OCD and depression symptoms in 87 adolescents with primary OCD. We computed an association network, a graphical LASSO, and a directed acyclic graph (DAG) to model symptom interactions. Models showed OCD and depression as separate syndromes linked by bridge symptoms. Bridges between the two disorders emerged between obsessional problems in the OCD syndrome, and guilt, concentration problems, and sadness in the depression syndrome. A directed network indicated that OCD symptoms directionally precede depression symptoms. Concentration impairment emerged as a highly central node that may be distinctive to adolescents. We conclude that the network approach to mental disorders provides a new way to understand the etiology and maintenance of comorbid OCD-depression. Network analysis can improve research and treatment of mental disorder comorbidities by generating hypotheses concerning potential causal symptom structures and by identifying symptoms that may bridge disorders.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent psychopathology; Comorbidity; Depression; Network analysis; Obsessive-compulsive disorder