The Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: Psychometrics of a Dimensional Measure of Obsessive-Compulsive Traits

Laura S Park; Christie L Burton; Annie Dupuis; Janet Shan; Eric A Storch; Jennifer Crosbie; Russell J Schachar; Paul D Arnold

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.008

The Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: Psychometrics of a Dimensional Measure of Obsessive-Compulsive Traits

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016 Apr;55(4):310-318.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.008. Epub 2016 Feb 4.

Authors

Laura S Park¹, Christie L Burton², Annie Dupuis³, Janet Shan¹, Eric A Storch⁴, Jennifer Crosbie⁵, Russell J Schachar⁵, Paul D Arnold⁶

Affiliations

¹ Neurosciences and Mental Health Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
² Genetics and Genome Biology Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.
³ Clinical research services at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
⁴ Health Policy and Management, Psychiatry and Neurosciences, and Psychology at the University of South Florida, Tampa; Rogers Behavioural Health in Tampa, and All Children's Hospital John's Hopkins Medicine in St. Petersburg, FL.
⁵ Neurosciences and Mental Health Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada; University of Toronto.
⁶ Genetics and Genome Biology Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; University of Toronto; Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. Electronic address: paul.arnold@ucalgary.ca.

PMID: 27015722
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.008

Abstract

Objective: To describe the Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (TOCS), a novel 21-item parent- or self-report questionnaire that covers wide variation in obsessive-compulsive (OC) traits, and to evaluate its psychometric properties in a community-based pediatric sample.

Method: The TOCS was completed for 16,718 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 years in a community setting. Internal consistency, convergent validity with the Obsessive-Compulsive Scale of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL-OCS), divergent validity with the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Symptoms and Normal Behaviour Rating Scale (SWAN), interrater reliability, as well as sensitivity and specificity of the TOCS were assessed.

Results: The internal consistency of the 21 TOCS items was excellent (Cronbach's α = 0.94). TOCS was moderately correlated with the CBCL-OCS (Spearman correlation = 0.51) and poorly correlated with the SWAN (Pearson correlation = 0.02). Sensitivity and specificity analyses indicated that a TOCS total score of greater than 0 successfully discriminated community-reported obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) cases from noncases. OC traits were continuously distributed both at the total score and dimensional level in our pediatric community sample.

Conclusion: TOCS is a multidimensional measure of OC traits in children and adolescents with sound psychometric properties. TOCS reveals that OC traits are common and continuously distributed in a community sample. TOCS may be a useful measure for studies of the characteristics and etiology of OC traits.

Keywords: Toronto Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (TOCS); general pediatric population; obsessive-compulsive disorder; obsessive-compulsive traits; psychometrics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Community-Based Participatory Research
Female
Humans
Male
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / diagnosis*
Parents
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychometrics / methods*
Psychometrics / standards
Reproducibility of Results
Self Report
Sensitivity and Specificity
Severity of Illness Index
Surveys and Questionnaires

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding