TY - JOUR
T1 - Accuracy of self and informant reports of symptom severity and insight in Hoarding Disorder
AU - Drury, Helena
AU - Nordsletten, Ashley E.
AU - Ajmi, Sana
AU - Fernández de la Cruz, Lorena
AU - Mataix-Cols, David
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - Background: Previous literature on Hoarding Disorder (HD) has largely recruited individuals with self-identified hoarding difficulties or informant-ratings of individuals who are not seeking help. Little is known about the reliability of self- and informant-ratings of hoarding severity and insight, and whether individuals who self-identify with HD differ from those who do not. Method: Twenty-four pairs of individuals meeting criteria for HD and their relatives took part in the study, plus 40 relatives of individuals meeting likely criteria for HD who did not agree to participate. All participants completed a clinician-administered diagnostic interview for HD and online questionnaires assessing hoarding severity, squalor and insight. Results: Good correspondence was found between self- and informant-ratings of hoarding severity, although informants gave significantly higher squalor ratings. Relative to clinician-ratings, informants under-estimated the insight of HD individuals. Higher hoarding severity and lower insight informant-ratings were made for individuals with HD who did not agree to participate, compared to those who did. Conclusions: A multi-informant approach guided by expert clinicians is desirable for the assessment of HD, particularly in low-insight individuals. When individuals do not seek help for HD, family members may benefit from education and support to help them understand how best to assist their relatives.
AB - Background: Previous literature on Hoarding Disorder (HD) has largely recruited individuals with self-identified hoarding difficulties or informant-ratings of individuals who are not seeking help. Little is known about the reliability of self- and informant-ratings of hoarding severity and insight, and whether individuals who self-identify with HD differ from those who do not. Method: Twenty-four pairs of individuals meeting criteria for HD and their relatives took part in the study, plus 40 relatives of individuals meeting likely criteria for HD who did not agree to participate. All participants completed a clinician-administered diagnostic interview for HD and online questionnaires assessing hoarding severity, squalor and insight. Results: Good correspondence was found between self- and informant-ratings of hoarding severity, although informants gave significantly higher squalor ratings. Relative to clinician-ratings, informants under-estimated the insight of HD individuals. Higher hoarding severity and lower insight informant-ratings were made for individuals with HD who did not agree to participate, compared to those who did. Conclusions: A multi-informant approach guided by expert clinicians is desirable for the assessment of HD, particularly in low-insight individuals. When individuals do not seek help for HD, family members may benefit from education and support to help them understand how best to assist their relatives.
KW - Hoarding disorder
KW - Informant-ratings
KW - Insight
KW - Reliability
KW - Squalor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923012500&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jocrd.2015.01.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jocrd.2015.01.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84923012500
SN - 2211-3649
VL - 5
SP - 37
EP - 42
JO - Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
JF - Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
ER -