Abstract
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) often begins in childhood and significantly impacts family, social, and academic functioning of OCD-affected youth. Despite children spending most of their waking hours at school, evidence about the effects of OCD on school functioning is limited. Parents of OCD-affected youth completed a school functioning survey developed by the authors. Survey content captured parents’ perspectives about the impacts of OCD on their child’s school functioning, their experiences with, and rationale behind, disclosing versus not disclosing the OCD diagnosis and the involvement and supports provided at the school. Descriptive statistics, χ2 tests, and independent samples t-tests were computed to analyze the survey data. Out of 233 invited participants, 37% (n = 87) of parents of OCD-affected youth (M age = 14.4 years, 60% female, 71% Caucasian) completed the survey. Most respondents endorsed a negative impact of OCD on their child’s school functioning (73%; n = 49), especially related to avoidance of activities, places, objects, and people at school (93%; n = 62). Most participants disclosed their child’s OCD diagnosis to the school (85%; n = 74) and had an overall positive experience (93%; n = 69). There were no statistically significant clinical and demographic characteristics differences between those who disclosed versus those who did not disclose the diagnosis. Individuals who participated in group family-based CBT and whose child had cleaning, symmetry or forbidden thoughts symptoms were more likely to complete the survey than invited non-survey respondents. Findings enhance the current understanding of how OCD affects the academic life of students and provide preliminary support for positive outcomes associated with disclosure to school professionals.
Highlights
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Parents perceived negative impacts of OCD on students’ school functioning, especially related to avoidant behaviors.
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Most families disclosed their child’s OCD diagnosis to the school.
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Such disclosure had positive outcomes for their child.
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Increased awareness and knowledge about OCD in schools is crucial to enhance educators’ skills to support OCD-affected students.
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Funding
This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (grant number FRN133715), the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (grant number CI-SCH-03016), and the OCDbc Postdoctoral Fellowship. No further specific grant was received from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors to fund this project.
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S.E.S. is the Founding Director of the Provincial OCD Program at the BC Children’s Hospital, the Research Director of the Child, Youth, and Reproductive Mental Health at the BC Children’s Hospital, and a Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board member of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF). J.S. is the Executive Director of the IOCDF. The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the University of British Columbia. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Participants provided written informed consent (parent) and assent (youth) via electronic signature after reading the consent/assent forms and having the opportunity to discuss any questions with the researchers.
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Negreiros, J., Best, J.R., Vallani, T. et al. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in the School: Parental Experiences Regarding Impacts and Disclosure. J Child Fam Stud 32, 2848–2857 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02350-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02350-w