The style of planning action (STOP) questionnaire in OCD spectrum disorders

a r t i c l e i n f o This article describes the exploratory and confirmatory validation of an everyday style of planning (STOP) questionnaire in a tic disorder (n = 88), Tourette syndrome (n = 76), body-focused repetitive behaviour group (n = 121), obsessive compulsive disorder (n = 251) and a non-clinical control group (n = 127). Exploratory factor analysis was performed on half of the sample and confirmatory analysis on the other half. A three factor solution accounted for 38% of the variance. The factors were labelled respectively: overcomplication, overpreparation, and overactivity. The internal consistency for the overcomplication score and total score was high and for the other two scales, satisfactory. Test–retest was satisfactory and the subscales discriminated amongst clinical groups, and clinical groups from controls. All subscales became significantly less pathological following cognitive behavioural treatment. Convergent validity showed strong correlations with depression, anxiety and perfectionism but not impulsivity. The study confirms style of action as an important characteristic of obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders. Further analysis of the structure of each factor is warranted. Obsessional compulsive spectrum disorders (OCSD) is a term covering a range of problems including both compulsive and impulsive acts. It traditionally includes tic and Habit Disorders (HD) or body-focused repetitive disorders (BFRD) at one end, and obsessional compulsive disorders (OCD) at the other end of the continuum (Hollander, Kim, Khanna, & Pallati, 2007). Tic disorders include Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (TS) and chronic tic disorders (TD) which require the persistent presence of involuntary motor, sensory or phonic tics since the age of 18 years. Body focused repetitive disorders includes actions such as hair pulling (trichotillomania), nail biting, skin picking or scratching. Along with skin picking, hair pulling is now found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), all BFRD show similarities in form and onset. OCD, as defined in DSM-V, involves obsessional preoccupations inducing aversive anxiogenic states subsequently neutralized by compulsive rituals. Clinically, all these OCSD problems are grouped under the section " OCD and related disorders " and share a common element involving uncontrolled and repetitive motor activity, whether it be simple or complex and automated or voluntary. Neurocognitive findings in OCSD have shown some inconsistent evidence of executive function (planning, inhibition, set shifting, flexible thinking) deficit across the spectrum. Whilst some aspects (set shifting and attentional control) may be intact, there is evidence that regulation and control of motor …