Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T07:29:42.823Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Leyton Obsessional Inventory: an analysis of the responses of 73 obsessional patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

R. M. Murray ,
J. E. Cooper  and
A. Smith
R. M. Murray*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Biometrics, Institute of Psychiatry, London, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham
J. E. Cooper
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Biometrics, Institute of Psychiatry, London, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham
A. Smith
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Biometrics, Institute of Psychiatry, London, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Robin Murray, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

The Leyton Obsessional Inventory was administered to 73 obsessive-compulsive neurotics, and their responses compared with those of 100 normal subjects. The ratio of the mean patient to normal scores ranged from 2·4: 1 for obsessional traits and 3·2: 1 for symptoms to 6·2: 1 for resistance and 12·5: 1 for interference with other activities. A principal components analysis on the patients' replies produced 3 unitary components (household order, personal contamination, and doubting) plus 2 bipolar components (checking/parsimony and desire for closure/unpleasant ruminations). These appeared to be more definitive representations of components identified from a similar analysis on normal subjects, suggesting that obsessional neurotics differ from normal subjects quantitatively rather than qualitatively. A cluster analysis on the patients' responses produced 3 subgroups. Thirty-two patients were predominantly hesitant and indecisive (‘doubters’), 30 were concerned with bodily and clothing contamination (‘contaminators’), and 7 were preoccupied with checking (‘checkers’).

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , May 1979 , pp. 305 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akhtar, W., Wig, N. N., Varma, V., Pershad, D. & Verma, S. K. (1975). A phenomenological analysis of symptoms in obsessive-compulsive neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 127, 342–348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
A merican Psychiatric Association (1977). DSM-lll: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, draft). Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Beech, H. R. (ed.) (1974). Obsessional States. Methuen: London.Google Scholar
Black, A. (1974). The natural history of obsessional neurosis. In Obsessional States (ed. Beech, H. R.), pp. 19–54. Methuen: London.Google Scholar
Cooper, J. (1970). The Leyton Obsessional Inventory. Psychological Medicine 1, 48–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, J. & Kelleher, M. J. (1973). The Leyton Obsessional Inventory: a principal components analysis on normal subjects. Psychological Medicine 3, 204–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dowson, J. H. (1977). The phenomenology of severe obsessive-compulsive neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 131, 75–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fish, F. (1967). Clinical Psychopathology. John Wright & Sons: Bristol.Google Scholar
Hirschfield, R. M. (1977). Personality attributes and affective disorders.Proceedings of the 113th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, p. 57. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Hodgson, R. J. & Rachman, S. (1977). Obsessional-compulsive complaints. Behaviour Research and Therapy 15, 389–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ingram, I. M. (1961). The obsessional personality and obsessional illness. American Journal of Psychiatry 117, 1016–1019.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
International Classification of Diseases, 8th Revision (1965). A Glossary of Mental Disorders. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Janet, P. (1903). Les obsessions et la psychasthenie. Alcan: Paris.Google Scholar
Kelleher, M. J. (1972). Cross national (Anglo-irish) differences in obsessional symptoms and traits of personality. Psychological Medicine 2, 33–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendell, R. E. & DiScipio, W. J. (1970). Obsessional symptoms and obsessional personality traits in patients with depressive illness. Psychological Medicine 1, 65–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kringlen, E. (1965). Obsessional neurotics. British Journal of Psychiatry 111, 709–722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, A. J. (1936). Problems of obsessional illness. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 29, 325–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, A. J. (1957). La enfermedad obsessiva. Acta Neuropsiquiatrica Argentina 3, 323–325.Google Scholar
Lewis, A. J. & Mapother, E. (1941). Psychological medicine. in Price's Textbook of the Practice of Medicine. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Liddell, M. A. (1974). An investigation of psychological mechanisms in obsessional patients. Ph.D. Thesis: University of London.Google Scholar
Marks, I. M., Hodgson, R. & Rachman, S. (1975). Treatment of chronic obsessive-compulsive neurosis by in vivo exposure. British Journal of Psychiatry 127, 349–365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meyer, V., Levy, R. & Schnurer, A. (1974). The behavioural treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders. In Obsessional States (ed. Beech, H. R.), pp. 233–258. Methuen: London.Google Scholar
Mitchell-Heggs, N., Kelly, D. & Richardson, A. (1976). Stereotactic limbic leucotomy – a follow-up at 16 months. British Journal of Psychiatry 128, 226–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salzman, L. (1968). The Obsessive Personality. Science House Inc.: New York.Google Scholar
Sandier, J. & Hazari, A. (1960). The obsessional: on the psychological classification of obsessional character traits and symptoms. British Journal of Medical Psychology 33, 113–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, K. (1959). Clinical Psychopathology (trans. Hamilton, M. W.). Grune and Stratton: New York.Google Scholar
Slade, P. D. (1974). Psychometric studies of obsessional illness and obsessional personality. In Obsessional States (ed. Beech, H. R.), pp. 95–109. Methuen: London.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1975). Research Diagnostic Criteria. Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute: New York.Google ScholarPubMed
Stern, R. S. (1978). Obsessive thoughts: the problem of therapy. British Journal of Psychiatry 133, 200–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, R. S. & Cobb, J. P. (1978). Phenomenology of obsessive-compulsive neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 132, 233–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, V. J. (1973). Explanation in obsessional neurosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 123, 675–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed