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Children’s Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory: Psychometric Properties and Feasibility of a Self-Report Measure of Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Youth

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Abstract

This report describes the development and psychometric properties of the Children’s Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (C-FOCI). Designed specifically as a brief measure for assessing obsessive–compulsive symptoms, the C-FOCI was created for use in both clinical and community settings. Study 1 included 82 children and adolescents diagnosed with primary Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder, and their parents. The Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) was administered to assess symptom severity. Thereafter, parents completed the Child Obsessive–Compulsive Impact Scale—Parent Version and Child Behavior Checklist, and youth completed the C-FOCI, Child Obsessive–Compulsive Impact Scale—Child Version, Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, and Children’s Depression Inventory—Short Form. A subgroup of 21 individuals was retested with the C-FOCI after completing 14 sessions of intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy. Construct validity of the C-FOCI was supported vis-à-vis evidence of treatment sensitivity, and moderate relations with clinician-rated symptom severity, the CY-BOCS Symptom Checklist, child- and parent-rated functional impairment, child-rated anxiety, and parent-rated internalizing symptoms. Discriminant validity was evidenced by weak relationships with parent-reports of externalizing symptoms. For Study 2, 191 non-clinical adolescents completed the C-FOCI to assess the feasibility of internet administration. Overall, internal consistency was acceptable for the C-FOCI Symptom Checklist and Severity Scale, and respondents were able to complete the measure with little difficulty. Taken together, the findings of Studies 1 and 2 provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the C-FOCI for the assessment of pediatric obsessive–compulsive symptoms.

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Notes

  1. Two measures that are commonly used in the pediatric OCD literature warrant mention given their relationship to the self-report measures described above. The Child Obsessive–Compulsive Impact Scale—Child and Parent Versions [5] are psychometrically sound 56-item, parent- or child-report questionnaires that assess OCD-related impairment in different areas of the child’s functioning, including school, social, and home/family activities. The Obsessive Compulsive Scale of the Child Behavior Checklist [35] is an 8-item parent-rated measure of OCD presence with moderate to high sensitivity, specificity, convergent validity, and predictive validity [53–57].

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Acknowledgments

Portions of this paper were supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health to the second author (L40 MH081950-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, 800 6th Street South 4th Floor, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Eric A. Storch, Jeannette M. Reid & Tanya K. Murphy

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Eric A. Storch & Tanya K. Murphy

  3. Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Muniya Khanna, Benjamin A. Loew & Martin Franklin

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Lisa J. Merlo

  5. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Wayne K. Goodman

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  1. Eric A. Storch
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Correspondence to Eric A. Storch.

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Storch, E.A., Khanna, M., Merlo, L.J. et al. Children’s Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory: Psychometric Properties and Feasibility of a Self-Report Measure of Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Youth. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 40, 467–483 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-009-0138-9

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