Recollections of parent-child relationships in OCD out-patients compared to depressed out-patients and healthy controls.

The present study examined the relationship between parental bonding in 26 psychiatric out-patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compared to 34 out-patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 41 healthy controls. The results indicated significantly lower levels of parental care and higher levels of maternal overprotection for the patients with a current principal diagnosis of depression, compared to healthy controls. In multiple regression analyses, the presence of depressive disorder was related to all Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI) subscales. When the presence of current depressive disorder was controlled for statistically, the diagnosis of OCD was not associated with abnormal patterns of parental bonding on the PBI.