Instructions:
“Obsessions” are unwelcome and distressing ideas, thoughts, images or impulses that repeatedly enter your mind. They may seem to occur against your will. They may be repugnant to you, you may recognise them as senseless, and they may not fit your personality.
“Compulsions”, on the other hand, are behaviours or acts that you feel driven to perform although you may recognise them as senseless or excessive. At times, you may try to resist doing them but this may prove difficult. You may experience anxiety that does not diminish until the behaviour is completed.
Rate the average occurrence of each item during the prior week up to and including the time of the interview.
| Time spent on obsessions. |
- 0 hours per day
- 0-1 hour per day
- 1-3 hours per day
- 3-8 hours per day
- More than 8 hours per day
|
| Interference from obsessions. |
- None
- Mild
- Definite but manageable
- Substantial impairment
- Incapacitating
|
| Distress from obsessions. |
- None
- Little
- Moderate but manageable
- Severe
- Near constant, disabling
|
| Resistance to obsessions. |
- Always resists
- Much resistance
- Some resistance
- Often yields
- Completely yields
|
| Control over obsessions. |
- Complete control
- Much control
- Some control
- Little control
- No control
|
| Time spent on compulsions. |
- 0 hour per day
- 0-1 hour per day
- 1-3 hours per day
- 3-8 hours per day
- More than 8 hours per day
|
| Interference from compulsions. |
- None
- Mild
- Definite but manageable
- Substantial impairment
- Incapacitating
|
| Distress from compulsions. |
- None
- Little
- Moderate but manageable
- Severe
- Near constant, disabling
|
| Resistance to compulsions. |
- Always resists
- Much resistance
- Some resistance
- Often yields
- Completely yields
|
| Control over compulsions. |
- Complete control
- Much control
- Some control
- Little control
- No control
|
Description
The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) is a 10-item scale designed to measure the severity and type of symptoms in people with
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) over the past seven days. The symptoms assessed are obsessions and compulsions. This scale is useful in
tracking OCD symptoms at intake and during/after treatment.
This scale was validated by Goodman
et al. (1989b) who found that the Y-BOCS was significantly correlated with two independent measures of OCD. The same study also showed that the Y-BOCS is sensitive to changes in OCD symptoms. The Y-BOCS also has high
internal consistency and high interrater
reliability (Goodman
et al., 1989a).
Interpretation
Total Y-BOCS scores
range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater severity of OCD symptoms. Scores on the
obsession and
compulsion subscales
range from 0 to 20, but only the total Y-BOCS score is interpreted. Total scores can be split into five categories, based on severity of symptoms. People who have a total Y-BOCS score: Under 7 are likely to be subclinical, 8-15 are likely to have a mild case of OCD, 16-23 are likely to have a moderate case of OCD, 24-31 are likely to have a severe case of OCD, 32-40 are likely to have an extreme case of OCD.
Developer
Goodman, W. K., Price, L. H., Rasmussen, S. A., Mazure, C., Fleischmann, R. L., Hill, C. L., … Charney, D. S. (1989a). The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. I. Development, Use, and
Reliability. Archives of General
Psychiatry, 46(11), 1006-1011.
Number Of Questions
10
References
Goodman, W. K., Price, L. H., Rasmussen, S. A., Mazure, C., Delgado, P., Heninger, G. R., & Charney, D. S. (1989b). The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. II. Validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46(11), 1012-1016.
Developer Reference:
Goodman, W. K., Price, L. H., Rasmussen, S. A., Mazure, C., Fleischmann, R. L., Hill, C. L.,Charney, D. S. (1989a). The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. I. Development, Use, and Reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46(11), 1006-1011.