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A Comparative Study of Obsessionality in Medical Students, Law Students, and Controls

Psychiatric Quarterly volume 88, pages 603–610 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Understanding obsessive-compulsive behavior in medical students and law students is necessary for administrators and educators to properly work with students struggling with obsessionality. We aim to compare the differences in obsessive symptoms between medical students, law students and a control population. A total of 100 third-year medical students, 102 third-year law students and 103 control subjects drawn from the general population completed the Leyton Obsessional Inventory (LOI). Subjects were examined on all three sections (symptoms/traits, resistance and interference) of the LOI. Obsessional symptom scores for medical students (14.29 ± 7.33) and law students (13.65 ± 6.61) were significantly greater than for the control group (11.58 ± 7.45). Medical and law students were both more likely to report checking, order, routine and attention to detail as obsessive symptoms. Medical students were more likely than law students to possess the obsessive symptoms of cleanliness and conscientiousness, while law students were more likely than medical students to possess obsessive symptoms related to difficulty in making up their mind and doubting themselves. While medical students and law students are more obsessional than the control population, each group is more likely to report different obsessive symptoms.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC3077, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Michael D. Harries

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, 2450 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Suck Won Kim & Jon E. Grant

Authors
  1. Michael D. Harries
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  2. Suck Won Kim
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  3. Jon E. Grant
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael D. Harries.

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Conflict of Interest

Mr. Michael Harries and Dr. Suck Won Kim report no conflicts of interest. Dr. Jon Grant currently has research grants from the National Center for Responsible Gaming, Brainsway, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the TLC Foundation for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors, Forest Takeda and Psyadon Pharmaceuticals. He receives yearly compensation from Springer Publishing for acting as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gambling Studies and has received royalties from Oxford University Press, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Norton Press, and McGraw Hill.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. The Institutional Review Board for the University of Minnesota approved the study and the consent.

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Highlights

- Medical students and law students are significantly more compulsive than a control population

- Obsessive symptoms regarding order, routine, and attention to detail are more common in medical and law students than controls

- Medical students were more likely than law students to have obsessive symptoms that included cleanliness and conscientiousness

- Law students were more likely than law students to have obsessive symptoms that included difficulty in making their minds up and doubting themselves

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Harries, M.D., Kim, S.W. & Grant, J.E. A Comparative Study of Obsessionality in Medical Students, Law Students, and Controls. Psychiatr Q 88, 603–610 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9481-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9481-8

Keywords

  • Obsessive-compulsive
  • Obessisionality
  • Medical students
  • Law students