Psychometric validation of a Danish version of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire - Child Version (OBQ-CV)

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Danish version of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire – Child Version (OBQ-CV). The OBQ-CV assesses dysfunctional beliefs concerning responsibility/threat estimation, perfectionism/uncertainty, and importance/control of thoughts, which according to cognitive theories are important in the development and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Methods: The study included a pediatric sample (age 7-17 years) consisting of 57 children and adolescents with OCD, 49 children and adolescents with an anxiety disorder (AD), and 58 typically developing (TD) children and adolescents without a psychiatric diagnosis. All participants completed the OBQ-CV and the Child Behavior Checklist – the School Age Scales (CBCL/6-18). The Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) was used to assess OCD symptom severity in the OCD group.

Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported the three-factor structure and thereby the construct validity of the OBQ-CV. Gender was not associated with subscale scores, whereas age influenced the subscale scores differently in the three groups. Reliability analyses showed acceptable to excellent internal consistency and acceptable test-retest reliability of the instrument. There were significant differences between the OCD group and the TD group, supporting the criterion validity. Results on convergent validity were mixed.

Conclusions: Overall, results supported the reliability and validity of the Danish OBQ-CV and thus the use of the questionnaire for future clinical and research purposes.

Keywords:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• OBQ-CV
• dysfunctional beliefs
• children
• adolescents

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all participating families.

Disclosure statement

The sixth author has received speaker's fee from Shire and Medice, and royalties from different publishers for textbooks on child and adolescent psychiatry. The remaining authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Danish Council for Independent Research, Medical Sciences [grant number: 0602-00306B]; The Research Foundation for Psychiatric Research, Central Denmark Region [grant number: P2012-24670008]; The Fru C. Hermansen's Memorial Foundation [grant number: 00962-0001]; The A.P. M⊘ller Foundation for the Advancement of Medical Science [grant number: 14-166]; The G.J.'s Foundation [grant number: 70355 MT/IV]; and The Research Foundation for Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Denmark Region [grant number: P2017-24670008]. The source of funding did not influence study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the report, or submission of the article