Characterisation of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) versus obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): In light of current DSM-5 nosology
Section snippets
Background
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterised by repetitive behaviours and/or mental acts occurring in response to preoccupations with perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Research has offered comprehensive characterisation of BDD within a range of cohorts: In adolescence (Dyl et al., 2006, Grant et al., 2001), inpatient (Conroy et al., 2008, Grant et al., 2001) versus outpatient (Zimmerman & Mattia, 1998) settings, as well as cosmetic
Participants and procedure
Participants were 21 BDD and 19 OCD patients recruited from a specialised outpatient psychiatric service as well as community sources (private psychiatric clinic at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne n=23; consumer support group run by Anxiety Recovery Centre Victoria n=7; advertisements on university newsletter Monash Memo n=7; Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre participant database n=3). Based on a null personal and immediate family history of diagnosed psychiatric disorders, 21 healthy
Sociodemographic characteristics
A range of sociodemographic characteristics were examined (Table 1). In line with planned recruitment strategies, no significant mean age or IQ differences were observed, but there was an over-representation of females across all groups. In addition, there was a significant association between group and marital status. Only roughly a third of clinical participants were partnered (i.e. married or in a de facto relationship), with the rest being single, separated or divorced.
The BDD group was
Discussion
The current study aimed to directly compare BDD and OCD on a range of sociodemographic and clinical variables. Reports on education and employment conditions were largely in agreement with literature documenting substantial socioeconomic impairment in BDD and OCD (e.g. Didie et al., 2007), and similar proportions of BDD and OCD groups were unpartnered. Slightly different (but non-significant) patterns were observed in their academic and work lives; participants with BDD tended to be less
Authors’ disclosures
None.
Role of funding source
None.
Contributors
Author Toh wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and Authors Rossell and Castle provided scientific input and editorial assistance. All authors contributed to and approved the final version.
Conflict of interest
None.
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2023, Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related DisordersThe contribution of multidimensional perfectionism and aesthetic sensitivity to the prediction of dysmorphic and symmetry concerns in a community sample
2022, Current Research in Behavioral SciencesCitation Excerpt :Yet as these studies lacked non-clinical control groups, it remains unknown how much more prevalent these symmetry concerns may be in BDD relative to the general population. As the majority of BDD preoccupations tend to be centred on the face (Toh et al., 2017), it would also be worthwhile to investigate whether existing symmetry concerns have a facial emphasis. Perfectionism can be broadly characterised as striving to achieve high levels of performance, alongside critical self-evaluations, and is represented by several multidimensional facets (Shafran et al., 2002).
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