A Child Distracted: Understanding the Relationship Between Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Subjective Well-Being

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a commonly diagnosed mental health condition among children and adolescents, with studies suggesting that OCD has the potential for significant disruption of academic and social performance. Subjective well-being (SWB) represents a non-traditional conceptualization of mental health within the dual factor model, wherein SWB and measures of psychopathology (e.g., problematic levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors) provide a more comprehensive picture of mental wellness. The current study examined the nature of the relationship between clinical characteristics of pediatric OCD and SWB within school-age youth (N=65) seeking treatment from an outpatient pediatric neuropsychiatric clinic. Additionally, the potential for moderation of this relationship by various symptom-related and demographic variables was examined, as was the potential for SWB to moderate the relationship between clinical characteristics of pediatric OCD and associated impairments in academic and general functioning. Results indicated that a majority of the sample (n=58; 89.2%) met or exceeded the clinically significant threshold for OCD symptoms, while roughly half of the sample (n=33; 50.8%) endorsed significant levels of academic impairment associated with symptom onset. Subjective well being varied among participants, with levels of SWB showing a statistically significant negative relationship with obsessive thoughts, but little to no relationship with compulsive behaviors. Finally, results of multiple regression analyses failed to identify variables that effectively moderated the relationship between clinical characteristics of pediatric OCD and SWB. Similarly, SWB was not indicated as a moderator of the relationship between clinical characteristics of pediatric OCD and academic functioning. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed