Deakin University
Browse
- No file added yet -

Defining Compulsive Behavior

Download (267.4 kB)
Version 3 2024-06-18, 14:35
Version 2 2024-06-04, 02:54
Version 1 2019-05-17, 10:31
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-18, 14:35 authored by J Luigjes, V Lorenzetti, S de Haan, George YoussefGeorge Youssef, C Murawski, Z Sjoerds, W van den Brink, D Denys, LF Fontenelle, M Yücel
Compulsive tendencies are a central feature of problematic human behavior and thereby are of great interest to the scientific and clinical community. However, no consensus exists about the precise meaning of 'compulsivity,' creating confusion in the field and hampering comparison across psychiatric disorders. A vague conceptualization makes compulsivity a moving target encompassing a fluctuating variety of behaviors, which is unlikely to improve the new dimension-based psychiatric or psychopathology approach. This article aims to help progress the definition of what constitutes compulsive behavior, cross-diagnostically, by analyzing different definitions in the psychiatric literature. We searched PubMed for articles in human psychiatric research with 'compulsive behavior' or 'compulsivity' in the title that focused on the broader concept of compulsivity-returning 28 articles with nine original definitions. Within the definitions, we separated three types of descriptive elements: phenomenological, observational and explanatory. The elements most applicable, cross-diagnostically, resulted in this definition: Compulsive behavior consists of repetitive acts that are characterized by the feeling that one 'has to' perform them while one is aware that these acts are not in line with one's overall goal. Having a more unified definition for compulsive behavior will make its meaning precise and explicit, and therefore more transferable and testable across clinical and non-clinical populations.

History

Journal

Neuropsychology Review

Volume

29

Pagination

4-13

Location

United States

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1040-7308

eISSN

1573-6660

Language

English

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2019, The Author(s)

Issue

1

Publisher

SPRINGER