The validation of a new obsessive–compulsive disorder scale: The Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory.

TLDR

The Obsessive‑Compulsive Inventory (OCI) is a new self‑report instrument designed to overcome limitations of existing tools for diagnosing and assessing the severity of obsessive‑compulsive disorder. This study reports the psychometric properties of the OCI, including scale construction, internal consistency, test‑retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. The OCI contains 42 items across seven subscales scored on a 0–4 Likert scale and was completed by 147 OCD patients, 58 social‑phobia patients, 44 PTSD patients, and 194 nonpatients, together with other OCD, anxiety, and depression measures. The instrument demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity across all four samples.

Abstract

The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI) is a new self-report instrument developed to address the problems inherent in available instruments for determining the diagnosis and severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The OCI consists of 42 items composing 7 subscales: Washing, Checking, Doubting, Ordering, Obsessing (i.e., having obsessional thoughts), Hoarding, and Mental Neutralizing. Each item is rated on a 5-point (0-4) Likert scale of symptom frequency and associated distress. One hundred and forty-seven individuals diagnosed with OCD; 58 with generalized social phobia; 44 with posttraumatic stress disorder; and 194 nonpatients completed the OCI and other measures of OCD, anxiety, and depression. The present article describes the psychometrics of the OCI including (a) scale construction and content validity, (b) reliability (internal consistency and retest reliability), and (c) convergent and discriminant validity. The OCI exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity with all 4 samples.