The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive scale was developed by Wayne Goodman and his colleagues to rate the severity and types of symptoms that a client my have. It is important to note that the Y-BOCS is not intended to diagnose OCD but is used to rate the severity of symptoms and can be administered throughout therapy to track improvements made by the client. The Y-BOCS is administered as a semi-structured interview where the client responds to questions that are asked by the interviewer. The severity of the obsessive symptoms and compulsive symptoms are rated separately to give the practitioner an idea of what symptoms are most prominent. The semi-structured interview also allows the practitioner to ask the client any additional questions that they may feel will be helpful in treating the client. The Y-BOCS is considered to be a valid and reliable measure with strong internal consistency for the symptom checklist and severity scale. Scoring the test is straight forward and categorizes the clients score to having a mild case of OCD to an extreme case of OCD.
|
None Less than 1 hour per day 1-3 hours per day 3-8 hours per day More than 8 hours per day |
|
2. How much do your obsessive thoughts interfere with functioning in your social‚ work‚ or other roles? None Slight interference‚ but no impairment Definite interference‚ but manageable Substantial interference Extreme interference‚ incapacitating |
|
None Mild‚ not too disturbing Moderate‚ disturbing‚ but still manageable Severe‚ very disturbing Extreme‚ near constant and disabling distress |
|
4. How much of an effort do you make to resist the obsessive thoughts? Always make an effort to resist‚ or don’t even need to resist Try to resist most of the time Make some effort to resist Reluctantly yield to all obsessive thoughts Completely and willingly yield to all obsessions |
|
5. How much control do you have over your obsessive thoughts? Complete control Much control‚ usually able to stop or divert obsessions with some effort and concentration Moderate control‚ sometimes able to stop or divert obsessions Little control‚ rarely successful in stopping or dismissing obsessions No control‚ rarely able to even momentarily alter obsessive thinking |
|
None Less than 1 hour per day 1-3 hours per day 3-8 hours per day More than 8 hours per day |
|
7. How much do your compulsive behaviors interfere with functioning in your social‚ work‚ or other roles? None Slight interference‚ but no impairment Definite interference‚ but manageable Substantial interference Extreme interference‚ incapacitating |
|
No anxiety Only slightly anxious Some anxiety‚ but manageable Prominent and disturbing anxiety Extreme‚ incapacitating anxiety |
|
Always make an effort to resist‚ or don’t even need to resist Try to resist most of the time Make some effort to resist Reluctantly yield to all obsessive compulsions Completely and willingly yield to all compulsions |
|
10.How much control do you have over your obsessive compulsions? Complete control Much control‚ usually able to stop or divert obsessions with some effort and concentration Moderate control‚ sometimes able to stop or divert compulsive behavior Little control‚ rarely successful in stopping or dismissing compulsive behavior No control‚ rarely able to even momentarily alter compulsive behavior |
1. WK Goodman‚ LH Price‚ SA Rasmussen‚ et al. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. I. Development‚ Use‚ and Reliability. 46 Arch. Gen. Psychiatry‚ 1006-1011. 1989.
2. MC Rosario-Campos‚ EC Miguel‚ et. al. The Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DY-BOCS): an instrument for assessing obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions. 11:5 Mol. Psychiatry‚ 495-504. May 2006.’