Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale

The Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) is a test to rate the severity of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms.

The scale, which was designed by Wayne K. Goodman and his colleagues, is used extensively in research and clinical practice to both determine severity of OCD and to monitor improvement during treatment. This scale, which measures obsessions separately from compulsions, specifically measures the severity of symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder without being biased towards the type of content of obsessions or compulsions present.

Goodman and his colleagues have developed the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale—Second Edition (Y-BOCS-II) in an effort to modify the original scale which, according to Goodman, "[has become] the gold standard measure of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptom severity". In creating the Y-BOCS-II, changes were made "to the Severity Scale item content and scoring framework, integrating avoidance into the scoring of Severity Scale items, and modifying the Symptom Checklist content and format". After reliability tests, Goodman concluded that "Taken together, the Y-BOCS-II has excellent psychometric properties in assessing the presence and severity, of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Although the Y-BOCS remains a reliable and valid measure, the Y-BOCS-II may provide an alternative method of assessing symptom presence and severity."

Studies have been conducted by members of the Iranian Journal Of Psychiatry & Clinical Psychology to determine the accuracy of the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (specifically as it appears in its Persian format). The members applied the scale to a group of individuals and, after ensuring a normal distribution of data, a series of reliability tests were performed. According to the journal, "[the] results supported satisfactory validity and reliability of translated form of Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale for research and clinical diagnostic applications".

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