Les obsessions et les compulsions retrouvées dans l’autisme: Étude comparative entre des enfants autistes et des enfants trisomiques 21 à l’école spécialisée pour handicap Sesobel au Liban

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the types of thoughts and repetitive behavior manifested by children and adolescents who suffer autistic disorders, and to compare their prevalence to children and adolescents suffering from Down syndrome.

Method

Twenty six patients, for whom their educator had completed the list of symptoms of the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS SCL), were admitted at Sesobel (a specialized school for the handicapped in Lebanon) with the diagnosis of autistic disorder (DSM-IV). The current or common types of obsessions and compulsions were evaluated. The witness group consisted of thirty persons suffering from Down syndrome with matching age and sex.

Results

The Anova test showed that the prevalence of global thoughts and repetitive behavior was significantly higher in the autistic group than in the Down syndrome group. The obsessions related to fear of self-inflicted suffering, the obsessions of contamination, the compulsions of order, of tidying up, and the need to touch, happened significantly more frequently in the autistic group, while in the witness group no types of obsession or compulsion were noted.

Conclusion

These results suggest that there autistic children and adolescents have a higher level of varied thoughts and of repetitive behaviors than children and adolescents suffering from Down syndrome.