Brander2016 - Systematic review of environmental risk factors for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, A proposed roadmap from association to causation §

• Type:#article
• Year read:#read2022
• Subject: OCD
• Bibtex: @brander2016
• Bibliography: Brander, G., Mataix-Cols, D., Pérez-Vigil, A., Vigil, A. P., & Larsson, H. (2016). Systematic review of environmental risk factors for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A proposed roadmap from association to causation. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 65, 36–62.

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Example citation §

Potential environmental risk factors involve birth complications, pregnancy and the postpartum period, infection, and stressful life events [@brander2016].

Although birth complications, pregnancy and the postpartum period, infection, and stressful life events are potential environmental risk factors for OCD, the field is lacking prospectively collected data with twin-design to control for genetic or unmeasured environmental factors [@brander2016].

Key takeaways §

• Potential risk factors: birth complications, pregnancy and the postpartum period, infection, stressful life events
• Limited evidence: parental age, season of birth, socioeconomic status, parental rearing practices, traumatic brain injury, substance use, vitamin deficiency
• Limitations in studies:
  • Only 22% prospectively collected data, so high risk of recall bias. Only two studies used twin-design so risk factors can be confounded by genetic or unmeasured environmental factors.
  • Most studies used small samples of OCD patients from specialist clinics, who tend to have comorbidity and a long illness duration
  • Heterogeneity in definitions of the risk factors

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