The high prevalence of compulsive-like behaviours in normal childhood suggests that these behaviours may play an important role in development. Furthermore, the similarities between the typical compulsive behaviours of childhood and the clinically significant behaviours that characterise Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) suggest that these two phenotypes may share similar neuropsychological profiles. In this study, two theories are investigated; one, that the neuropsychological deficits attributed to the pathogenesis of OCD also play a role in the manifestation of typical compulsive behaviours of childhood. Two, that compulsive behaviour supports the advancement of adaptive behaviour. / The participants were 48 elementary school children (19 males) between the ages of 72 and 152 months (M= 106.5, SD = 24.49). Parents rated the frequency of typical compulsive behaviour on the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI; Evans et al., 1997). Adaptive behaviour was assessed with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales---Survey Form (VABS; Sparrow, Balla, & Cicchetti, 1984). The measure of set shifting was the manual 64-card version of the Wisconsin Card Sort Task (WCST; Kongs, Thompson, Iverson, & Heaton, 1981). Response inhibition was tested with the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT; Conners, 2000) and the Tapping Test (Diamond & Taylor, 1996). Stepwise multiple regressions were performed to examine the relationships amongst variables of interest. The participants were later divided into three groups (seven years and younger, seven to ten years, ten years and older) to examine relationships by age. Adaptive behaviour and response inhibition were predictive of levels of typical compulsive behaviour across the age range. Together, coping skills and play and leisure skills as assessed on the VABS emerged as the most important predictors of the repetitive compulsive behaviours. Response latency on the tapping task was the strongest predictor of increased levels of just right compulsive behaviour. Set shifting did not predict levels of compulsive behaviour although positive correlations were found in the youngest group. Overall, the data support the notions that clinical OCD and the typical compulsive and ritualistic behaviour of childhood share similar neuropsychological profiles, and that compulsive behaviour in childhood supports the development of increasingly advanced adaptive behaviour.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.102855 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Zygmuntowicz, Catherine E. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.) |
| Rights | © Catherine E. Zygmuntowicz, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002612760, proquestno: AAINR32340, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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