Adolescent religious obsessive compulsory disorder (OCD): A comparative study on religious education students

Obsessions are repetitive thoughts and impulses that cannot be suppressed and affect the daily lives of individuals. Compulsions are mental problems that occur with avoidance due to these thoughts and consist of repetitive actions. Religious OCD, which is a type of OCD, is the state of this disorder that includes religious elements. It can affect the daily life of the individual negatively, as well as disrupt his religious life. This research is focused on the comparison of religious OCD tendency and religious education in young adolescents between the ages of 13-15 who receive religious education in Secondary School, Imam Hatip Secondary School and institutions providing Hafiz education in Istanbul. Main objective of this research is to provide information about OCD and religious OCD, to examine the developmental stages of adolescence, to identify empirical studies dealing with religious OCD in Turkey, to compare students who received religious education/hafiz education according to the status, demographic variables, parenting style, and the education style. The motivation of this study is the lack of studies in the literature in the tems of religious OCD, the absence of an independent studies on Hafiz students. The selection of participants in this age segmentation as a sample for OCD, which tends to occur in early adolescence, makes this research important. Questionnaire technique, one of the quantitative research methods, is used. Personal information questionnaire, OK Scale, Penn Religious Obsessions Scale, Religious Compulsions Scale is administered to the participants. The data is collected by randomly selected adolescents between the ages of 13-15 who study in Secondary School, Imam Hatip Secondary School and institutions providing hafiz education. A statistically significant difference is found in terms of OCD and religious OCD levels according to the institution where religious education was received. According to the status of being a hafiz, OCD and religious OCD levels are found to be lower in those who are hafiz. There is no significant difference between OCD and religious OCD levels in terms of demographic variables, parenting style, and religious education style.