The research about obsessive compulsive symptoms among adults who were not diagnosed with OKB

The intention of this paper is to investigate 160 high school graduates of a private school in Adana. These participants are in the age of between 18-25 and do not have an obsessive-compulsive disorder. To be more precise, the study scrutinizes the distribution of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in healthy young adults; and whether there is a significant difference between female and male participants with regard to the intensity of the symptoms. In this connection, the scrutiny shows that there is not a significant difference between the sexes in terms of the intensity of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. The most common obsessions found in female participants can be placed in the following order: It starts with obsessions of being dirty followed by obsessions of aggression, and other obsessions; somatic obsessions; the need to accumulate or hide things; religious obsessions; magical thinking like superstition obsessions, and sexual obsessions. In contrast to female participants, male participants show a different order but the same obsessions. The research findings ascertained following order. First of all, other obsessions are observed, obsessions of aggression, obsessions of being dirty, somatic obsessions, the need to accumulate or hide things, religious obsessions, sexual obsessions and subsequently magical thinking like superstition obsessions. With regard to the research findings, the most common compulsions found in female participants can be listed in following sequence: The most common one is the control compulsion followed by other compulsions, washing cleaning compulsions, repetitive ceremonial behavior, sorting and editing compulsions, counting compulsions, accumulating and collecting compulsions, excessive magical thinking and superstitious behavior, ceremonial behaviors involving other people. In contrast, the most common compulsions found in male participants can be placed in the following succession: the control compulsion, washing cleaning compulsions, other compulsions, counting compulsions, accumulating and collecting compulsions, excessive magical thinking and superstitious behavior, ceremonial behaviors involving other people. All in all, the comparison of female and male participants reveals that there is no difference in terms of symptoms and the intensity of symptoms. According to the research findings, the subtype of obsessive compulsive disorder, which involves other people's ceremonial behaviors, is observed more often in female participants. Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms, gender, intensity of symptoms