How Far Have We Come: In Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents? Suffering from OCD Often Means Feeling Like a Prisoner in You Own Mind and Body, Not Being Able to Enjoy Life to the Fullest and Having to Live a Life That Is All Consumed by Anxiety & Fear (Ce ARTICLE: 1 CE Credit) (Report)

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to review the current empirical literature on obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents. The results are discussed from a developmental perspective, thus emphasizing different factors responsible for the development and maintenance of OCD in children and adolescents. The main contributing factors include genetic transmission in families as well as the effect of the environment (family, society, culture). The study concludes that a comprehensive theoretical model is needed to take all empirical results into consideration in order to present a developmental explanation of the predisposition, onset, development, and maintenance of OCD in children and adolescents.