Development and Validation of The Early Life Experiences andAdult Obsessive-Compulsive Tendencies scale

Abstract

This research’s focus was to develop and validate “The Early Life Experiences and Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Tendencies Scale” (ELE-AOCTS). Aculturally sensitive therapeutic screening tool, designed to identify the impacts of early life factors, including parenting styles, childhood traumas and maladaptive coping strategies on the etiology of obsessive-compulsive tendencies in young adults specifically in the context of Pakistani Culture. The development of “ELE-AOCTS” followed a rigorous methodology, utilizing a mix method approach, dividing the study into five phases, that included purposive sampling in which interview were conducted from eight OCD diagnosed Patients. Succeeded by expert’s content validation by clinical psychologist. The semi structured interview questions were designed in accordance to research's objective, these questions included adverse childhood experiences, parenting styles, coping strategies and family histories. Preliminary set of 29 items were refined by expert evaluation, that was finalized for pilot study (N = 62) and exploratory factor analysis. Factor analysis identified three principal factors: “Emotional Neglect, Parental Rejection and childhood stress, “Parental Control, Trauma and Avoidance” “Parental control and Coping Strategies for Illness Symptoms” culminating in a 21item scale. The scale exhibited sound reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.71) and test retest stability, affirming its efficacy as a tool for screening out early life experiences that had an effect on Obsessive Compulsive tendencies etiology. Moreover, evaluations of convergent and divergent validity demonstrated the scale's precision. This tool would have great clinical Implications.