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Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a profound impact on the lifestyles and mental health of young people. It has been hypothesized that the focus on hygiene and the fear of contamination/infection during the pandemic may have exacerbated obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms in this p...

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Autores principales: Demaria, Francesco, Pontillo, Maria, Di Vincenzo, Cristina, Di Luzio, Michelangelo, Vicari, Stefano
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9181440/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35683574
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11113191
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author Demaria, Francesco
Pontillo, Maria
Di Vincenzo, Cristina
Di Luzio, Michelangelo
Vicari, Stefano
author_facet Demaria, Francesco
Pontillo, Maria
Di Vincenzo, Cristina
Di Luzio, Michelangelo
Vicari, Stefano
author_sort Demaria, Francesco
collection PubMed
description The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a profound impact on the lifestyles and mental health of young people. It has been hypothesized that the focus on hygiene and the fear of contamination/infection during the pandemic may have exacerbated obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms in this population. OC symptoms are widespread in the general population, with varying degrees of intensity. At their most extreme, they manifest in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), which is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. The present narrative review aimed at evaluating the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and OCD and OC symptoms in young people, especially children and adolescents with and without OCD, focusing on vulnerability and risk factors and the impact of lockdown measures. Of the six studies identified, four examined clinical samples diagnosed with OCD and two looked at community-based adolescent samples. Five of the six studies found that OC symptoms increased during the pandemic. Additionally, vulnerability to anxiety may constitute a risk condition and the lockdown measures and personal stressful life events can constitute potential triggers of OC symptoms, while ongoing treatment for OCD had a protective effect. The results suggest that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, obsessive and compulsive behavior (e.g., hand washing) in young people at the greatest risk should be monitored, and the intervention of mental health services should be maintained. More research is needed in this area.
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spelling pubmed-91814402022-06-10 Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review Demaria, Francesco Pontillo, Maria Di Vincenzo, Cristina Di Luzio, Michelangelo Vicari, Stefano J Clin Med Review The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a profound impact on the lifestyles and mental health of young people. It has been hypothesized that the focus on hygiene and the fear of contamination/infection during the pandemic may have exacerbated obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms in this population. OC symptoms are widespread in the general population, with varying degrees of intensity. At their most extreme, they manifest in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), which is characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. The present narrative review aimed at evaluating the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and OCD and OC symptoms in young people, especially children and adolescents with and without OCD, focusing on vulnerability and risk factors and the impact of lockdown measures. Of the six studies identified, four examined clinical samples diagnosed with OCD and two looked at community-based adolescent samples. Five of the six studies found that OC symptoms increased during the pandemic. Additionally, vulnerability to anxiety may constitute a risk condition and the lockdown measures and personal stressful life events can constitute potential triggers of OC symptoms, while ongoing treatment for OCD had a protective effect. The results suggest that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, obsessive and compulsive behavior (e.g., hand washing) in young people at the greatest risk should be monitored, and the intervention of mental health services should be maintained. More research is needed in this area. MDPI 2022-06-02 /pmc/articles/PMC9181440/ /pubmed/35683574 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11113191 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Demaria, Francesco
Pontillo, Maria
Di Vincenzo, Cristina
Di Luzio, Michelangelo
Vicari, Stefano
Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_full Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_fullStr Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_full_unstemmed Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_short Hand Washing: When Ritual Behavior Protects! Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms in Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_sort hand washing: when ritual behavior protects! obsessive–compulsive symptoms in young people during the covid-19 pandemic: a narrative review
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9181440/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35683574
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11113191
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