Dimensional and Subtype Models of OCD

Although obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is recognized in DSM-IV as a unitary syndrome (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000), clinical investigators have increasingly come to regard it as a heterogeneous condition (eg, Pato, Pato, & Pauls, 2002). Some regard OCD as being composed of sets of dimensions, with each dimension corresponding to a distinct set of mechanisms.Adimensionmaybe defined by an aggregate of causal factors that incrementally influence the risk for a particular set of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms (eg, contamination obsessions and washing compulsions).