Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and the family Roz Shafran, PhD Joanne Ralph, BSc Frank Tallis, PhD ‘A questionnaire study of 98 family members of individwals with obsessive-compulsive symptoms revealed that 60% of the family meribers were involved to some extent in rituals with the affected family member. Nearly all family members reported at least some degree of interference in their lives. Information was also gathered about the sort of rituals in which members were involved, how they resporided to the demands of the affected relative to engage in the rituals, their beliefs and knowledge about compliance, and the degree to which the rituals interfered in their lives, The study highlights the possible need for support, advice, and education for family members of persons with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. (Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 59{4], 472-479) The role of the family in the maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is widely acknowledged by clinicians who sometimes meet and advise family members in therapeutic sessions. However, the involvement of family members in OCD is rarely reported in the research literature, probably because without extensive resources it is difficult to obtain sufficient numbers for clinical trials. In a small study, 12 obsessive-compulsive patients were treated with either self- exposure or partner-assisted exposure to the feared stimulus. Immedi- ately following treatment, there was no difference in outcome between the two groups. However, at 1-month follow-up, the part- net-assisted group had maintained their gains, whereas the self-expo- sure group had relapsed somewhat (Emmelkamp ¢- de Lange, 1983). More recently, a larger study of 30 patients demonstrated thar part- ner-assisted behavior therapy was superior to patient-based behavior therapy on a variety of indices, including anxiety, depression, and ‘This paper was presented at the meeting of the British Psychological Society, Brighton, England, in March 1994. When this paper was prepared, De. Shafran was, with ‘ogy Department at the University of Beitish Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Ms. Ralph is with the Instirute of Psychiatry in London. De. Talis is with Charter ‘Nightingale Hospital in London. Reprint requests may be sent to Dr. Shafran at the - Psychology Department, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, Canada VET 1Z4. (Copyright © 1995 The Menninger Foundation} 472 Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic Copyright © 2009 ProQuest LIC. All rights reserved. Copyright © Guilford Publications.