Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised-Parent (OCI-R-P)

Abstract

The Obsessional Compulsive Inventory-Revised-Parent (ChOCI-R-P) is a comprehensive, 38-item assessment tool designed to evaluate the presence and severity of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms in children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years. This instrument is uniquely administered as a parent-report measure, capturing the caregiver’s perspective on the child’s behavioral and cognitive patterns. The scale is divided into two main sections: Part One focuses on compulsions and associated functional impairment, while Part Two addresses obsessions and their corresponding impairment. The ChOCI-R-P allows for the generation of distinct scores for symptom content and clinical impairment, providing a detailed profile of the pediatric patient’s OCD presentation.

Keywords

ChOCI-R-P, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, Parent-report, Child assessment, Compulsions, Obsessions, Clinical psychology, Severity scale.

Authors

Uher, R., Heyman, I., Turner, C. M., Shafran, R.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the ChOCI-R-P is to provide clinicians and researchers with a standardized, reliable method for assessing the symptom content and clinical severity of OCD in pediatric populations. Since it is a parent-report instrument, it is particularly valuable for children who may lack the cognitive maturity or insight required for accurate self-reporting, or who may be reluctant to disclose sensitive symptoms.

The measure specifically aims to quantify two critical dimensions: the frequency and type of obsessive and compulsive behaviors (symptoms content), and the degree to which these symptoms interfere with the child’s daily functioning, including school performance, social interactions, and family life (impairment). By measuring both dimensions, the scale assists in determining the clinical significance and impact of the disorder.

Construct

The ChOCI-R-P measures the core psychological construct of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which is characterized by two distinct but often linked phenomena: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rigidly applied rules.

The scale is structured to provide separate scores for these two domains, allowing for a nuanced understanding of whether the child’s presentation is predominantly obsessive, compulsive, or mixed. Furthermore, the inclusion of impairment subscales ensures that the assessment captures the clinical significance of the symptoms, aligning with diagnostic criteria that require distress or functional interference.

Validity

Validity studies conducted by Uher, Heyman, Turner, and Shafran (2008) demonstrated strong evidence supporting the ChOCI-R-P’s clinical utility. The impairment scales within the ChOCI-R-P showed robust convergent validity when compared against the established Child and Adolescent Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), which is considered a gold standard interview measure for symptom severity in youth.

Crucially, the study also confirmed strong correlations between the parent-report scores (ChOCI-R-P) and the self-report version of the measure (ChOCI-R-S), both at the individual item level and the overall subscale level. This high concordance suggests that the parent’s perspective accurately reflects the child’s reported experience of obsessions and compulsions, enhancing its ecological validity in clinical settings.

Reliability

The ChOCI-R-P exhibited acceptable levels of internal consistency within the clinical validation sample, which consisted of 285 children and adolescents diagnosed with OCD. High internal consistency confirms that the items designed to measure a specific domain (e.g., compulsive behavior) reliably cohere and measure the same underlying construct.

Factor Analysis

While the initial validation paper by Uher et al. (2008) confirms the measure’s two-part structure (Obsessions and Compulsions), which guides the scoring methodology, detailed factor analytic studies confirming the underlying latent structure were not explicitly provided in the source materials. However, the scale is designed based on the established factorial model of OCD symptoms, separating cognitive intrusions (obsessions) from behavioral rituals (compulsions), and further separating symptom content from functional impairment in line with common clinical assessment practices.

Instrument

Test Type: Clinical rating scale; Symptom and impairment severity measure

Format: Parent-report questionnaire (38 items total, utilizing 3-point Likert scales for symptom items and 5-point scales for impairment items)

Language Available: English (Validated in the UK clinical setting)

Population Group: Clinical and community samples

Age Group: Children and adolescents (7 to 17 years)

Population Details: The measure was validated using a clinical sample of 285 children and adolescents diagnosed with OCD, specifically children referred to an OCD clinic.

Test Methodology: The scale generates raw scores for four key subscales, which are summed to produce Total Symptom and Total Impairment scores. Scores are interpreted using percentiles based on parent responses from the clinical validation sample, where a percentile of 50 represents the average score reported for a child with OCD.

The scoring methodology is defined as follows:

• Compulsion Symptom score: Sum of questions 1 to 10 (Maximum score 20).
• Compulsions Impairment score: Sum of questions 14 to 19 (Maximum score 24).
• Obsession Symptom score: Sum of questions 20 to 29 (Maximum score 20).
• Obsession Impairment score: Sum of questions 33 to 38 (Maximum score 24).
• Total Symptom Score: Compulsion Symptom score + Obsession Symptom score (Range 0-40).
• Total Impairment Score: Compulsions Impairment score + Obsession Impairment score (Range 0-48).

Higher total impairment scores indicate higher levels of severity and distress related to OCD symptoms, while higher total symptom scores indicate greater complexity and pervasiveness of the symptoms.

Keywords

Psychometric scale, CY-BOCS, Impairment measure, Symptom content, Pediatric OCD, Internal consistency, Convergent validity.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The ChOCI-R-P was developed and published in 2008 as part of an academic article detailing self-, parent-report, and interview measures of OCD. Specific details regarding current licensing, permissions for clinical use, and associated fees must be obtained directly from the primary authors (Uher, Heyman, Turner, & Shafran) or the publisher of the validating journal, the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.

Test Year: 2008

Reference’s

• Uher, R., Heyman, I., Turner, C. M., & Shafran, R. (2008). Self-, parent-report and interview measures of obsessive–compulsive disorder in children and adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22(6), 979-990. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2007.10.001

Items of the Obsessional Compulsive Inventory-Revised-Parent (ChOCI-R-P)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.