Psychopathological Comorbid Symptoms in Animal Hoarding Disorder

Psychiatr Q. 2020 Sep;91(3):853-862. doi: 10.1007/s11126-020-09743-4.

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to describe the psychopathological symptoms comorbid to animal hoarding disorder. This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of a 33 individuals sample diagnosed with animal hoarding disorder. For data collection, a Sociodemographic Data questionnaire and a Semi-Structured Clinical Interview were used, based on the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure. The sample consisted of 24 women (72.7%) and 9 men (27.30%), with a prevalence of 64% of the elderly. The mean number of self-reported animals per residence was 41.12 (DP = 24.41), totaling 1357 animals: 915 (68%) dogs, 382 (28%) cats, and 50 (4%) ducks. The results indicated animal hoarding disorder the comorbid psychopathological symptoms of depression (36%), anxiety (36%), memory deficits (27%), mania (21%) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (18%). The analyses revealed a higher occurrence of these symptoms among participants who had hoarded animals for over 20 years.

Keywords: Animal hoarding disorder; Anxiety symptoms; Comorbid symptoms; Depression symptoms; Mania; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Psychopathology.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • Anxiety Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Cats
  • Comorbidity
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Depressive Disorder / epidemiology*
  • Dogs
  • Ducks
  • Female
  • Hoarding Disorder / epidemiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Middle Aged